Crossing the Lines
by CarmellaD'Winter
Summary: Will Shuester and Rachel Berry: two people who fell in love. The only problem is, she is his seventeen year old student. But, they are convinced they can survive and be together. That is, until Sue Sylvester provides them with an ultimatium.
1. Prologue: Glee Club Director and Captain

**Hola Gleeks! So, I've had this idea floating around in my head for a little while now and I've finally put some of it down on paper. As usual I've written the juicy scenes first, but they come later so I've had to try and write the less juicy but still important scenes. **

**Muchas Gracias for reading! (Reviews and comments are much appreciated, of course: like Rachel Berry and Tinker Bell, I need applause to live!) **

**Prologue**

**The Glee Club Director and Captain, Impossible Crushes**

Glee Club. Two words with such an array of meanings; geeks, gleeks, freaks, gays, attention seekers, losers, lame, suck feast...but one word united them all: music. Truth of the matter was, they all loved music. Whether it was Broadway or rap or pop or dance, bottom line was they all loved it. They sang to it, they swayed to it, to played it. Music ran through their veins and filled their lives. In this one particular Glee Club, in a school named 'Mckinnley High' situated in Lima, Ohio USA, were twelve students where music meant everything to them;

Rachel Berry; the Glee Club's Captain. She had dreams and ambitions of becoming the next Broadway legend, follow in the footsteps of her idol Barbara Streisand and surround herself with singing and music. Finn Hudson; the Glee Club's Co-Captain and star quarterback, although he can't dance a single step he is always considered the male lead of the club. Kurt Hummel; the Glee club's most fashionable guy. He's Gaga for Broadway and all things musical! Mercedes Jones; the soul singing diva can belt out any song and is always up for fun and shenanigans with her best friend Kurt. Those two are the deviant of divas in the whole school – let alone the club! Artie Abrams; he maybe in a wheelchair but that doesn't stop him from rapping and popping a wheely whilst performing. Tina Cohen-Chang; she used to be the Glee Club's goth but has found a new identity thanks to the club, she's sweet and subtle but still has that inner vampire lurking around. Quinn Fabray; everyone knows Quinn Fabray! Head Cheerleader, President of the Celibacy Club and all round bitch. That is until she joined Glee Club. Thanks to the club and the friends she made whilst singing in it, she had a baby but managed to come to terms with giving her up for adoption – to Rachel's mom – and create a new good girl with a bit of flare image, still allowing her inner bitch to reveal itself, but only when someone messes around with the Glee Club. Santana Lopez; the fiery, feisty, foxy Latina can sing and dance and she also has the best bitch glare going around. Everyone knows not to mess with her, or else she'll 'go all Lima Heights Adjacent on your ass'. Of course there is one person she softens up for. Brittany Pierce; the bubbly, sweet blonde that has captured Santana's ice heart. She is the best dancer out of the girls and is friends with everyone. She's as sweet as a bag of sugar in a box of doughnuts! Noah 'Puck' Puckerman; the school's badass and future rock star. He wanted to name his daughter after his favourite rock star drink, however changed his mind when Quinn told him to stop being stupid and they had to give their daughter a proper name. Coming up with Beth; combining his love of a rock star dream and his love of his unborn daughter (at the time). He still stalks the hall with an attitude, but only messes with people, if they mess with Glee Club. Mike Chang; the Glee Club's best ninja dancer. He teaches the Glee Clubbers the steps for their knock out performances. Blaine Anderson; the newest member of the club has to be the second best dressed male in the club, practically joined at his boyfriend Kurt's side. He's sweet, charming but fiercely in love with Kurt, much to many girls' dismay.

And of course, every great Glee Club needs a great leader. In this case, a great director. This man was Mr Will Shuester. He started his career as the school's Spanish teacher, however Broadway has always been his dream. Where he couldn't get to fulfil that dream for himself, he would stop at nothing to make sure his students achieved their own dreams.

They were preparing for their latest competition, taking place in the greatest city in the whole world; New York City.

In the choir room they were busy rehearsing. They had only a week to go before they were due to be on the plane and heading off to the world's greatest city.

"Five, six, seven, eight!" Will clapped and instructed the kids to start their song. As they swayed and sashed, twirled and spun around their room, Will watching them all to make sure they didn't put a foot wrong. They knew the competition was going to be tough; they were up against Vocal Adrenaline as well as all the other Glee Clubs that had made it to the Finales of their competition. They couldn't mess up. Not that they would, Will had every faith in his students and knew they were going to do fabulously well.

Rachel eyed her teacher carefully every time her body caused her to look in his direction. Her red tinted brown eyes glistened with stardom and she searched his own eyes for approval of her performance. Will caught her eye and winked at her, giving her a huge smile showing off his perfectly white teeth. The young girl felt her heart stop and then completely melt. She'd had a crush on the handsome teacher for a while, but only recently had she really began taking notice of her affections towards him. She was watching his smile, her eyes drifting down to his chest and lingering on where she imagined his toned abs to be. Without realising, she had messed up her steps and collided into Finn.

"Watch it Rachel!" He yelled at her, stopping the whole routine.

"Sorry Finn." She blushed, trying to hide her embarrassment at losing focus. The giant of a boy loomed over her. "Sorry isn't good enough Rach! We need to keep focus if we're going to win!"

"Hey Finn, calm down all right. It was just a mistake-" Mr Shuester interjected.  
>"But Mr Shue we can't afford to make mistakes!" Finn was flaring red. He desperately wanted to win; they had all come so close and with most of them, their senior year fast approaching, he wanted the Glee Club to have some form of recognition and respect in the school. Will sighed and walked over to kids, seeing that an argument was going to break out soon if he didn't interfere. "Look guys, I think that's enough for today. You've all worked really hard I think it's about time you all went home and got some rest."<p>

The kids agreed and began to gather their things. Rachel's eyes had started to leak with little tears from being shouted at by Finn and humiliated in front of everyone. Will walked over to her, just as she was wiping away her tears with her sleeve.

"Hey," he said quietly and placing his hand on her shoulder, "You okay?" Rachel nodded and sniffled, looking up at him. "Yeah. I'm fine, thank you Mr Shuester, I'm sorry I messed up."

"Hey we all make mistakes." He looked around before smiling devilishly and leaned in, "Even me! And we all know that I'm perfect!" His words made her laugh, but also made her cry again. Will sighed and pulled her close to him. "Don't worry about it Rachel. You're going to be fine."  
>"But I want to be better than fine," she complained, pulling herself away and pouting up at her teacher. "I want to be a star! The brightest, best most shining star of all!"<p>

"And you will be!" Will told her excitedly, his eyes widening with anticipation for the day where she really would be on the Broadway stage and singing in front of hundreds of people. "You just have to be patient. All right?" He'd dropped his volume and now made his voice softer as he further comforted her, rubbing her forearm. "Thanks Mr Shuester. I don't know how you do it, but you always make me feel a lot better." She admitted, breaking away from his comforting hold. Will smiled at her and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Well remember what I said; I'm perfect!"

Rachel laughed at him once again as she walked over to Mercedes who stood with her arms folded and a cheeky smile grazing her lips. The brunette frowned at her friend. "What?" She questioned.

"Looks like someone's got the hots for teacher!" Mercedes laughed.

"Do not!" Rachel scolded, giving the other diva a light thump on the arm.

"Oh girl you so do! A blind man could see it a mile away. You have a huge crush on Shuester." Rachel looked back at Mr Shuester, who was now tidying up around the room. She blushed as she turned her attention back to Mercedes. "Is it really that obvious?"

"The only way to make it more so was if you wore a huge neon sign saying; 'help me I'm whipped and completely in love with Mr Shuester!'"

"I'm not in love with him!" She hissed, making sure he didn't hear them.

"But you do have a crush on him?"

"Can you blame me? Look at him he's remarkable. Not just his looks but his personality. His heart is always in the right place, he smiles constantly and he-"

"Just be careful Rachel. You know that he doesn't feel the same way about you right?"

"I know. But, a girl can dream right?"

"Sure. I girl can dream! Come on!" Mercedes linked her arm with Rachel's as she pulled her out of the room, once they had both got their backpacks on their backs. "Goodbye Mr Shuester." Rachel called, waving to him. "Bye girls, bye Rachel." He gave her another smile. Melting her heart once more.

Will got home that night, home being his two bedroomed apartment that he shared with his room mates Lonely and All Alone, and fixed himself a quick dinner of pasta and a beer before grading some papers and giving himself an early night. Since his interaction with Rachel; he couldn't stop thinking that he could still feel her body pressed up against him, smell her perfume and shampoo from where he rested his head briefly on top of hers, hearing her soft breaths against him as she stopped crying. He knew he was in danger of falling in love with his student, but he knew that it wouldn't last long. She was almost a senior and then she would be graduating and then she'd be out of his life forever.

He wasn't entirely sure of when his little crush on the girl began. It must have been whilst watching her sing; he always felt himself fall a little more in love with her whenever she sang. "Perhaps it was when she was singing 'On My Own' for her audition into Glee?" He thought, as he lay awake in his bed. "Or maybe when she shouted at me for the first time when I wouldn't giver her that solo?" He smiled at the memory, remembering how her nose crinkled at little and how her lips formed into a tiny pout, before storming out she stomped her foot like a child. It made him smile then and it certainly made him smile now. Whenever it was, he knew that his inappropriate crush on the girl had grown and he sometimes showed her more affection more suitable for friends, rather than teacher pupil, but he always put it down to him just consoling her. She had been, after all, bullied for most of her life. Rachel had a way of saying the wrong thing when really she should have kept her opinions to herself. That's what he loved about her; she wasn't afraid to speak her mind, even if it meant she would get hurt.

"Wait," he sat up and rubbed his eyes, "Love?" He gasped as he said the word. "I don't _love_ Rachel. I love her voice and her talent and her strong willing power and her personality and her eyes and her legs and-" He stopped himself from continuing the list as he smacked his hand over his mouth. "No." He shook his head. "I do not _love her_. That would be totally and completely wrong and inappropriate!" He fell against his pillows and tried to fall asleep. Of course, his thoughts were full and consumed of Rachel Berry. "Oh God!" He grumbled, flipping himself over and burying his head under his sheets and pillows.


	2. New York Kiss

**Chapter One**

**New York Kiss**

Finally the day had arrived where the New Directions were needed in New York.

They were boarding the plane and were preparing for take off. Mercedes and Quinn sat together, already gossiping and discussing outfits, their girly interests and giggling across the aisle from Mike and Tina. Behind them were Santana and Brittany, their eyes focused on each others and seductive smiles crossing theirs lips – planning to spend most of the flight in the bathroom, if they could – and across the aisle from them were Blaine and Kurt who were talking about two completely different things; Blaine was trying to teach Kurt about the rules of baseball where Kurt was trying to teach him the 'rules' of how to make the perfect soufflés. Finn, Puck and Artie were at the front of the middle section of the plane; due to Artie's wheel chair he had an extra large space and so both boys got to join him, without leaving one of them out. That only left Rachel and Will to sit together.

"Please, you take the window seat." Will offered, putting their things in the overhead locker.  
>"Are you sure Mr Shuester?" Rachel asked, slipping into the seat.<p>

"Of course." He smiled at her, handing her the book she had asked for and sat down next to her. He tapped nervously on his thigh and tried to keep his breathing calm; two traits that didn't go unnotticed by Rachel. "Mr Shuester are you all right?" She asked, her eyebrows furrowing with concern. Will ignored her at first, until she spoke his name again. "Huh? Yeah, yeah I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You're acting a little jumpy."

"It's nothing." He answered quickly.

"Are you sure? You know what they say; 'a problem shared is a problem halved'." She beamed him an innocent smile, and caused Will to sigh and lower his voice. "Well this isn't really a problem. More of an inconvenience."

"Care to elaborate?" Rachel asked, leaning into him a little more so he didn't have to feel embarrassed.

He gulped and looked around quickly, checking that none of his students could hear him, besides Rachel of course. "I'm scared of flying." He whispered quietly, blushing a little.

"Oh I see." Rachel whispered, being unable to hide her little smirk, that Will always found to be rather cute. He sighed and hit his head against his seat, still trying to calm himself down. But failing miserably. "See, it's nothing." He tried to laugh, but he just got more nervous.

"Well, when I get scared do you want to know what I do?"

"Can I take a guess?" He smiled, rolling his head over to see Rachel.

"With pleasure."

"Do you sing about your favourite things?" He smiled wider, raising his eyebrows at her.

"Well now that you mention it, I don't sing _about_ my favourite things, but I do sing to myself. Or I hum, which is a form of singing if you think about it."

"I guess you're right, and it calms you down?"

"Completely. However, as much as I love your singing voice, I highly doubt the other passengers on this flight would enjoy it if you sang for the entire journey."

"I guess you're right."

"In that case, if you are scared then you can hold onto my hand." She said, taking hold of his rather sweaty hand in hers; the delicate touch and contact of her soft skin made Will take a sharp breath.  
>"Really?" He said quietly.<p>

"Of course. Daddy's scared of flying so whenever we go on flights, no matter how long or short, he sits in the middle so he can hold onto both of our hands."

"Thanks Rachel, that's very sweet of you."

"You're welcome. Besides if it makes you feel any better, it's only a short flight."

"That's true."

"Now, pay attention the air hostesses are about to go through the in-flight safety routine."

"Oh my God." Will groaned, feeling the plane beneath him jitter and shudder.

"It's fine Mr Shuester, it's just turbulence." Rachel told him, trying to reassure him that he was fine.

"Yeah well it's still kind of terrifying." He told her, his voice quivering.

"Here, hold my hand." Rachel offered, turning her palm over for him to take hold.

"I thought that was just for the take off and landing?"

"No it was for when you felt scared, and right now you look petrified."

"Are you sur-"

Just as he was about to speak, the plane jolt and it felt like it was about to fall out of the sky. Will cursed and gripped onto Rachel's hand harder than he had done before. He closed his eyes and squeezed them tightly closed. His heart rate was sky-rocketing and he felt sick as his stomach did somersaults in time with the shakes of the plane. It jumps and fluttered about the sky, as the captain's voice sounded over the speakers, telling the passengers that they were being instructed to return to their seats and to put on their seatbelts.

"We're going to die!" Will whispered, feeling himself begin to cry. Rachel smiled at him, although he couldn't see it. She moved herself up closer to him and began to rub comforting circles on the back of his hand. "We're not going to die Mr Shuester," she told him soothingly. "We're fine, it's just turbulence." Seeing that he wasn't going to ease up any time soon she did the only thing she could think of to calm him down. It was something her dad did to her daddy when he was frightened on a plane. She pressed her lips to his ear and began to sing softly, a song she knew he loved.

"_Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high."_ She smiled against his ear and closed her eyes to fully melt into the song. "What are you doing Rachel?" Will asked, not daring to open his eyes.

"I'm trying to calm you down." She whispered and she began to run her fingers through his curls. "Well it's working." He told her, starting to feel his breathing regulate again. Rachel managed to almost sing the whole song to him, until this time the plane really did feel like it was falling out of the sky and Will cried out, leaped up wrapping his arms around Rachel and buried his head into her chest. He sobbed into her breasts, his face heating up with fright and his muscles tensing. Rachel was now a little scared, not just because of the turbulence but because of where her teacher's head was. Not only was he her teacher, but she had been harbouring a secret crush on the man and was afraid that she wouldn't be able to control herself in telling him during the turbulence.

They stayed like that; Rachel rubbing large circles on his back and humming into his ear, until the plane steadied and continued to fly smoothly for the rest of the flight. It took Will a while to realise they were safe again. He continued to take deep breaths with his head against her chest and his mouth between her breasts. He didn't realise until he then could feel Rachel's hear thumping against her chest. His eyes opened and he saw darkness. On the back of his head he could feel an odd comforting presence. Clearing his throat, he lifted his head up and saw Rachel's face smiling down at him.

"Welcome back." She giggled, letting him go. He blinked and leaned back into his seat. They were quiet for a little while, Will just trying to calm himself down again. He couldn't believe he had spent however many minutes with his face in between her breasts. His student's breasts! Well, the fact wasn't that she was just his student, it was the fact he had developed an unfortunate crush on the girl and had now probably sent her bizarre, odd signals. He cleared his throat and turned to face her. "Rachel," his voice was a little husky from the tears he had embarrassingly cried. She faced him, putting her book down and giving him her full attention. "I.." he tried to think of what to say without sounding lame. "I want to apologise for..um..for leaping on you. At you!" Rachel smiled and giggled, placing her hand on his shoulder and giving him a friendly squeeze. "It's okay Mr Shuester. When we're scared our bodies just react in ways we can't control. Fight or flight mode, right? Don't worry about it." She nodded at him, making sure he wouldn't make a big deal out of it. Will sighed and returned the smile. "Thanks Rachel, for being so understanding."

"No problem, now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to finish this chapter before we land."

"Of course. Sorry." He blushed, and bowed his head so he could read his car magazine, that had somehow slipped off his lap and ended up on the floor. As he bent down to pick it up, he heard Rachel laugh once more. "What did I just say? Stop apologising Mr Shuester. Enjoy your magazine, I hope it's a good read." Will sat up and stared at her one last time. Her eyes were focused on the pages before her. "Yeah," he sighed, "I hope you finish your chapter."

For the remainder of the flight, both of them were thinking of nothing but the contact they had just shared. No matter how inappropriate it was, it made them feel something. The touches made them throb in ways that Rachel had never felt before and Will hadn't felt since he himself was a teenager. They refused to give into their bodies wants and look at each other for the rest of the flight, instead pretending to focus on their reading material; with Rachel squeezing her legs together to try and get rid of the pangs and Will trying to focus on his cars to get rid of the sensations going on inside his jeans.

The night of the competition had arrived and The New Directions were beyond nervous, however their nerves were balanced out by their excitement, and their talent more or less over took their fears and anxieties. They were ready and couldn't wait to get on that stage and sing their hearts out.

Will gathered his kids around in one last group huddle; like they were all the school's football team the 'Titans' and were preparing for their biggest game of the season. "All right guys, here's the plan," Will began as he smirked at the real football players and then beaming at them all in turn, "You're going to go out there and sing and dance to the best of your abilities and you are going to knocks the socks off those judges and wow that audience." The kids all cheered and agreed with his words. "And hey, it's not the winning that matters. It's the taking part that counts."

"Yeah but Mr Shue we didn't come all the way out here just to lose!" Puck commented, earning himself a smack on the head by Mercedes and Tina. Will chuckled at his comment; "That's true, so I guess there's only one last things for me to say." All the kids held their breath and widened their eyes at him. He smirked as he shouted at the top of his lungs; "Go out there and have fun!"

All the kids broke out of their huddle and cheered, high fiving each other and cheering as they made their way to the stage. Rachel was the last to leave the green room, as she turned around to see Will, her lip nervously between her teeth. "You'll be great Rachel." He assured her. She smiled at him, too nervous to speak.

From the wings, he watched as his favourite little diva sang and certainly wowed the crowd. She may have only been just over five foot tall, but that voice was bigger and better than any other in the whole world. Every time she hit a high note, Will's eyes filled up with tears and every time she smiled as she felt the emotion of the song run through her veins sent his legs quivering and threatening to drop him to the floor. Of course he was proud of all of his students. They had all come such a long way since joining the club. But Rachel was by far the best singer in the group. She may not have been the prettiest girl in the school; Quinn held that spot followed by Santana according to Jacob Ben Israel's online postings, but him she was just breathtaking.

Sooner than it began, the competition was over and the results were in. Much to everyone's surprise and horror, they hadn't made it. The judges just didn't think they were good enough to make it to first place. The kids were, of course crush. Finn was angry and retorted to punching the wall, hurting his hand in the process, and some of the girls were crying. Rachel walked up to Will in the green room with a sad smile on her face.

"You okay?" He asked, sighing as he tried to smile at her.

"I am, do you want to know why?" She told him, trying to stretch her smile out further.

"Of course." He beamed, thinking that she would be the most upset out of all of them.

"I'm sad that we didn't win, of course. But I'm not sad because it meant that we still had the chance to come here, to New York, and perform on one of the world's greatest stages!" She smiled so brightly that it made her eyes twinkle. She rose on her tiptoes to reach his ear. "Best of all, we got to do it together. All of us! And I couldn't have asked for anything more than that." Will smirked as he felt Rachel place her lips gently against his cheek and then resting back on her feet. "Well I can think of what could have made the evening better." Rachel raised an eyebrow at him. "Wining!" He laughed, taking Rachel by the shoulder and guiding her over to the rest of the team.

"Come on guys, I think we should all go out to celebrate!" He announced, meeting the faces of eleven very confused teenagers. "Celebrate what Mr Shue?" Finn asked, making Will smile and pat him on his back. "Getting to New York! And performing as a great team!"

After a little persuasion, within half an hour, the whole Glee Club were sat down at a fancy restaurant eating and laughing and talking, still dressed in their red and orange costumes. "To the New Directions!" Will announced as he raised his beer up in the air. The Glee Kids all chorused and cheered as they chinked their sodas together.

"Goodnight everyone, make sure you don't stay up talking for too long. Our flight is at nine in the morning, so you all need to be up and in the lobby at six okay?" Will told them all as they headed off to their rooms. "Damn it Mr Shuester, why couldn't you have booked a later flight?" Mercedes complained as she dragged herself to the girls' bedroom. Will shook his head and laughed at her. "Well I'm sure you all want to get home to see your families, am I right?" He was then met with grumbled responses and waited for them all to get into their rooms, without them sneaking off into each others rooms.

He'd made it clear that the boys weren't allowed in the girls room and the girls weren't allowed in the boys rooms after nine. Seeing as it was now ten o'clock and the last night, he was sure that someone would try to sneak in. Of course, he didn't mind if Kurt went into the girls' room, but he did have a problem if any of the other guys went in. Especially now that most of them had coupled up with each other. The guys all went into their room; pushing and shoving and fighting over who was going to pick the show they wanted to watch – apparently there was a car chase special but there was also a wrestling match on – it was going to be a fight to the death, and Will made a mental note to check up on them later. The girls also made their way to their room, discussing outfits and the other guys at the competition. Rachel was the last one to enter. She turned around, flickering her hair back over her shoulder. "Goodnight Mr Shuester." She smiled. Will waved at her and smiled too, "Goodnight Rachel." They both blushed a little, and went into their rooms.

Two o'clock in the morning and neither could sleep.

Rachel was still reliving her moment in the spotlight as she sang her heart out.

Will was still thinking about Rachel's kiss on his cheek.

Soon, the pain of not being able to drift off was getting too much for the both of them and they got out of bed and both headed for the roof.

Rachel arrived there first, staring out at the night and city beneath her.

Will saw her, and smiled to himself as he watched her watch the world.

"Can't sleep?"

"Oh, Mr Shuester you startled me."

"Sorry."

"It's okay. In answer to your question, no I can't sleep."

"Me either. So, what are you doing up here on the roof? I know it's nearly summer but it's freezing!" He commented, wrapping his robe around him tighter, wishing Rachel would do the same to hers; her sating pink robe flowed around her and she looked more like an angel than before. Her brown locks also floating around. She stared out to the city again before speaking.

"Back home, whenever I can't sleep, I open my window and stare at the stars trying to count them all until my eyes just can't stay open and I just have to go back to my bed and fall asleep. The reason I'm up here, is because it's so beautiful out here, and I didn't want to disturb the other girls." She face Will, who had walked up to her and stood next to her, mirroring her position of leaning over the wall slightly, resting their elbows on the concrete. He gave her a quizzical look and Rachel chuckled. "Well, Santana!"

"Yeah she isn't a girl to disturb in the middle of the night!" Will chuckled also.

"Unless you're Brittany."

"Yeah, those two are inseparable."

"You're right." There was a gentle pause as they both looked over at what they assumed was Times Square. Rachel looked over at Will. "So, why are you up here on the roof?" Will glanced at her, before resting his eyes on hers. "Probably the same reason as you; it's so beautiful out here I couldn't just sleep away my last night of New York."

"That's true."

"What is?"

"That it is beautiful out here. I mean, excluding the few stars you can see; the general New York lights and colours, the sounds and the atmosphere...it's beautiful. It's truly mesmerising and you'd think by looking deeply into all of these lights would make you want to go to sleep but, but how could you when there's just so much of this beautiful city to see and..Mr Shuester why are you laughing? It's rather insulting." She faced him, and sure enough Will was trying to hide a smirk by covering his mouth with his hand. Little giggles still came out. "I'm not laughing at you, honestly Rachel."

"Then why-" He cut her off before she could speak, resting his hand on the concrete wall, separating them from falling down. "I'm laughing because your enthusiasm and love for this city is remarkable!"

"Then why are you laughing? Surly you should be applauding?"

"Oh I think you'll have plenty of applause in your life, I think you can hold off from me this once."

"All right. I suppose I can." Rachel shrugged, turning her attention back tot he city's lights.

"Would you like a drink?" Will asked as he held out the bottle of red from behind his back. He had no intention of drinking it all, just one glass but he felt that he had to offer Rachel some. Rachel raised her eyebrow at him. "You brought a bottle of wine to the roof?"

"Well alcohol helps you get to sleep too."  
>"Does it now?"<p>

"Well it helps me."

"Surely brandy or whiskey would be more suitable to send you off to sleep."

"Well aren't we the expert!"

"I'm not, it's just from what I've seen in movies."

"Fair enough. So, would you like a glass?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, go on, it's your last night in New York for a long time, you might as well celebrate actually making it here in the first place."

"Well...okay, I guess one glass won't hurt."

"And I promise I won't tell your fathers."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. So, to the city that never sleeps?"

"To the city that never sleeps!"

Soon they were flat on their backs, staring up at the sky, laughing and rolling around with drunken stitches.

"What time is it?" Rachel asked through her laughs. Will looked over at his watch and fell back on the ground. "Just gone half past four."

"Oh my God! We've been out here for...what, two and a half hours?"

"Wow! You really do talk a lot."

"Hey you talk a lot too yourself."

"What?"

"I don't know! I'm drunk!" Rachel giggled.

"Lightweight!"

"Quiet Shuester!" She hit his chest playfully.

"All right Berry." He tapped her arm and helped her get up. As they stumbled to find their feet, they continued to giggle a little and then looked back at the city.

"Can you believe we're actually here?" Rachel gasped, amazed at where she was.

"What on the roof?"

"No! Well, yes, but I was referring to the fact that we're in New York. New York City! NYC!"  
>"Yeah I think we've gathered where we are Rachel!"<p>

"No, I mean don't you see Mr Shuester? This is the greatest city on Earth and we're here."  
>"And it sucks because we're leaving here tomorrow. Well, technically in a few hours."<p>

"Way to kill someone's high, Mr Shue!"

"Sorry. But, hey it won't be long until you're back."

"I guess."

"I mean it Rach; you know all those posters and billboards they have up in Times Square and dotted all over the place?"

"Yes."

"Well, someday that'll be you. They'll have your face up there, being the leading lady and singing your heart out and inspiring more girls like you to follow their own dreams."

"You really think so?"

"Sure I do, don't you?"

"I don't know." Rachel dropped her head and shrugged. "Sometimes I do but...if I'm honest, sometimes I think that my dream is too big to accomplish."

"Now you're being ridiculous. Sure, if you couldn't sing or act or dance and you had the face of a troll then yeah, your dreams are too big. But you're Rachel Berry! You have the best most beautiful voice in the whole entire world and you're the best actress and the best dancer and..and you don't need me to tell you just how beautiful you are, Rachel." Will had dropped his voice and was now looking deeply into Rachel's chocolate brown eyes. She lowered her voice too, sounding relaxed but shocked all the same. "You really think I'm beautiful?"

"Like an angel." Will whispered, taking the back of Rachel's head in his hand and bringing her face closer to his. Rachel closed her eyes and allowed her teacher to kiss her. It was soft and gentle, but over all too quickly. Will pulled away, suddenly sobering up. "Rachel I..I'm sorry I don't-"

"Don't." She whispered, holding onto his shirt.

"What?" He whispered, disbelieving what he heard.

"Don't apologise."

"What do you mean?"

"I..I liked it. A lot."

"Rachel-"

"Don't. Just..do it again."

This time she was the one to pull him closer to her. They kissed for the second time. Their hands remaining still. Rachel's on his chest, and Will's in her hair. Once they pulled away, they panted softly and locked eyes with one another. "I guess we'd better get back to bed." Rachel whispered.

"You're right. I'll walk you to your room."

They made it back to their bedrooms in silence. Just as Rachel was about to walk into her room, she felt Will take hold of her hand. She looked back at him and looked into his eyes. He smiled a shy sideways smile at her before letting go of her hand. "Goodnight Rachel."

"Goodnight Mr Shuester." She smiled and headed back into her room.


	3. Avoidence No More

**Chapter Two**

**Avoidance No More**

"All right guys," Will clapped his hands and turned to face the kids.

Will had been acting strange around Rachel. Ever since they woke up the on the morning they were leaving to go home in New York, he had tried to keep his distance. He spoke to her on the plane, as they sat with each other again, but this time he didn't squeeze her hand when he was scared. Thankfully, the turbulence was virtually non-existent and he didn't need to hold onto her, or bury his face in her sweater.

Once they got back to school, however, his behaviour changed dramatically. He'd been trying to avoid her,

But there was no way he would be able to ignore her in Glee. No way.

"So who wants to start off first?" He asked, scanning the room and trying hard not to look at Rachel, let alone make eye contact with her. He wanted to pick anyone. Anyone that wasn't Rachel. His heart – and other parts of him – couldn't take it if she sang. He saw her eyes pleading with him to pick her. But he couldn't. He just couldn't allow her to blow him away by her voice. Instead he locked eyes with the other diva in the group. "Mercedes, how about you?"

It was the final straw. She could handle him not picking her ask a question in his class, she could deal with the fact he wouldn't stop to talk to her in halls in between classes, but completely ignoring her in Glee? Where she was in her element and he completely isolated her and didn't give a damn care about her ideas or anything she had to say? She would not lie back and allow that to happen. No way.

Everyone had left and Will had vanished into his office, probably another way for him to ignore her further; probably spin her line by saying he had to grade some papers or something trivial like that.

She sucked in her stomach and stuck out her chest, anything to make herself look brave and strong when really she was just full of confusion and anger. She marched over to his office door and didn't even bother to knock, she just simply barged in. He was sat at his desk, of course marking papers.

Rachel made sure her voice was strong and brave, as well as loud and gave off the hint that she was rather cross with his current behaviour. "Mr Shuester-" She was cut off by his voice. He didn't look up at her, instead he kept his head down and continued to scribble over the notebooks and tests. His right hand clenching the red pen to the point where it was probably going to snap, his other hand fisted in his hair as if it was keeping his head down. "I can't talk right now Rachel-"

"You're avoiding me-" She snapped, causing him to look up at her. And look at her for the first time since coming back from New York. He scowled at her, "No I'm not that's ridiculous-"

"You can't even look at me." She raised her voice and now didn't care about keeping a calm image. She was furious and wanted him to know it. "If that's not avoidance then I don't know what is-"

"Look Rachel will you please just go?" He shouted, slamming his pen down on the table. He looked her in the eyes once again. Rachel held his gaze and widened her eyes, smirking a little as she knew that once he looked into her eyes as deeply as he was doing, he would never be able to stop. Eye contact was very important to him. And she knew that better than anyone through her watching.

"Not until you talk to me." Now her voice was quieter and softer, her fingers unclenching slightly.

"Rachel," he sighed, trying to drop her gaze, "I can't talk to you right now."

"Then don't talk to me, just tell me why you're avoiding me." She stepped closer to his desk. He laughed a little and got up, feeling that he had to be on the same level as her, if not higher.

"Technically that would involve talking to you, so-"

"Now you're avoiding my question." It was Rachel's turn to laugh now, and she shrugged her shoulders at him, then crossing her arms across her chest. Will's eyes scrunched up a little and he balled his sweaty hands into fists, banging one of them on the desk in front of him. The sound made Rachel jump, but she continued to stare him down. "For Gods sake Rachel will you please just-" He then moved around his desk, resisting the urge to grab her by her arm and shove her out of the door himself. "NO!" She screamed, moving backwards so that she was now closer to the door again. Needing to block him. "Not until you explain to me why you are blatantly ignoring me!"

"Rachel I need to go-"

Rachel slammed her body up against his office door, spreading her arms out so there was no way he could leave. Will sighed angrily and marched over to her, rolling his sleeves up just wishing she would get the point and leave him alone. As he pressed up against her body, he reached for the door handle, but Rachel's slender fingers reached down and turned the lock. Will sighed and looked down into Rachel's eyes. "Rachel, please unlock the door." He told her in a soft, but angry voice. Filled with confusion. Rachel's own eyes looked up at him through her long eyelashes. She slowly shook her head from side to side. "Not until you tell me what happened between us that made you want to avoid me to the point where you can't even look at me."

"I'm looking at you now." Will replied; all the anger from his voice gone and replaced with an unfortunate, desperate need of lust.

Everything he was thinking was completely unacceptable, everything he was feeling was absolutely inappropriate. Yet, a part of him didn't care. Her lips were plump and inviting, her eyes were dazzling like the New York lights they had admired together and her skin was so soft, he wanted to touch it and stroke it, finally running his hands through her fabulous, shiny silky soft locks.

Their breaths were heavy and heated. Rachel's chest was heaving up against him, he could just about feel her breasts rub against his own chest, but he tried to ignore it and just focus on her eyes. He wouldn't lose at this staring contest. This battle of dominance. He was the adult for heaven's sake and he would not lose to a seventeen year old girl.

Rachel's tongue darted out of her mouth to lick her lips quickly, but that one movement made Will weak at the knees and he had to blink.

"You know what happened between us." He told her, his voice barely above a whisper.

"We kissed." Rachel told him bluntly. "So what?"

"So what? Rachel, you know that this is wrong!" He groaned, still unable to take his eyes off her.

"Who says? The law, the school, society?"

"Yes! All of those!"

"Well I don't care," she removed one of her hands and placed it on his cheek. He immediately melted into the touch. He groaned once again, closing his eyes feeling his body slump with pleasure as he felt her palm against his face. "I don't care because I know that what we shared in New York, wasn't just a one time thing." She looked into his eyes once he opened them. "I know you, and I know you would never take advantage of me, of anyone, when they were drunk."

"Maybe it was just a drunken kiss, Rachel." He sighed, knowing it wasn't true. She smirked at him and removed her hand from his cheek, Will moaning from the loss of the warm contact. She trailed her fingers along his jaw, down his neck and resting on his collarbone. "You know that wasn't true." "I know." He sighed, giving into his body's wishes and he took his own hand and rested it on Rachel's soft cheek. She closed her eyes and rested her head back against the door; feeling her body touch his touch. His thumb stroked her cheek and his other hand placed itself on her side, sliding up her body gently to rest on her ribs. Rachel felt herself buck to his touch but kept herself grounded by opening her eyes; dark with lust and wanting.

"I want to kiss you again," whispering, she admitted. "I want to kiss you and never let go."

"I want that too." He blushed, moving himself even closer to her. Their torsos were already touching, but now he wanted their legs to be entwined and interlocked. "I want to hold you and run my fingers through your hair," at that point his slide his hand that was cupping her cheek and did run his fingers through her hair. The sensations of him pulling on her strands, make her moan to herself, "I want to kiss you tenderly and passionately and allow my hands roam over your sweet body and explore every part of you, not just with my hands but with my lips and mouth," his words were turning the both of them and Rachel had to bit her lip harder to stop herself from moaning out loud. She moved her other hand so that is was wrapped around the back of his neck and pushing his face forward. Inches away from hers. Will licked his lips, his mouth completely dry. "Rachel, I want you so much, I do. Not just your body but everything about you. I want you to sing to me and you to talk to me and.." he scoffed at himself, not believing that he was about to reveal one of his biggest fantasies. "And if I'm honest I want to pick you up, cupping my hand around your perfect little ass, carry you over to my desk and take you on it." Rachel blushed at how forward he was being. She swallowed and opened her mouth, moving her face forward, trying to close the gap. "Well, I won't allow you to 'take me' as you so romantically put it, but I will succumb to both of our desires and kiss you; tenderly and passionately."

Closing her eyes and pushing his neck, she opened her mouth a little wider. Will couldn't control himself any longer; the gap between themselves was finally closed by their lip meeting. They kissed. This time sober, and it was the best kiss either had ever had. Their lips moulded together perfectly, moving in perfect rhythm, their tongues gently slipping into each others mouth and battling each other, feeling and tasting like heaven.

Will had to stop himself from removing his hands from where they were and exploring Rachel's perfect body. He wanted to take this slow, and knew Rachel did to. For now, they would just enjoy their kiss.

Rachel pulled away, not wanting to but being a girl she had to ask a question. Locking eyes with him again, panting from their energetic kiss; "What does this mean?" Whispering she asked. Will smiled down at her and cupped her face with his hands; "That I want to be with you." He kissed her again, but this time it was only brief. "We'll talk later, you'd better get home. Don't want your father sending out a search party for you." He teased and got of her face. Backing of slightly, he watched as she bit her lip and fluttered her eyelashes at him. "This isn't just a crush, you know that right?" She told, her hands fiddling behind her back. He smiled at her again and nodded his head. "I definitely know this isn't a crush because," he moved his hand to the back of his neck, almost feeling her touch like it had been printed on him, "I feel it too."

With that last bounty of reassurance, Rachel winked at him and slipped out of the room. Once she had left Will sighed happily and ran his hands over his eyes. "Wow." He sighed, but began frowning knowing that the talk they were going to have was going to be pretty heavy also. But he put it off, and spent the rest of the evening thinking about Rachel; no longer feeling guilty about his thoughts.


	4. Secret Talks

**Chapter Three**

**Secret Talks**

All night, Will couldn't stop thinking about Rachel, and vica versa. They had both woken with similar throbbing feelings in between their legs and swirling butterflies in their lower stomachs. 

Rachel was snuggled up to a pillow, one hand resting firmly between her thighs and she sighed with a happy, content smile. Her whole night had been filled with a beautiful dream of her and Will. She eased her eyes open and gasped at loud as she had noticed that she had drastically overslept. Just as she was about to get up to have a lightening fast shower and get dressed before heading off to school, hopefully making in time to sort her locker out before heading off to her home room, she couldn't help but groan as she removed her hand away from her legs. She gasped again as she realised what her body was telling her she wanted.

A blushed crept onto her olive skin cheeks, even though she was completely alone she had a feeling she was being watched, which was impossible considering she was an only child and her fathers were downstairs. Her fathers were downstairs. She couldn't do what her body wanted to do, not with her parents just a floor below her! It would be wrong! But, she felt herself throb and the slight pain from being neglected was starting to make Rachel woozy.

Her tongue darted out from her lips to moisten them. As she tried to steady her breathing, she felt herself against her pyjama bottoms: she was wet. Not drenched like she had overheard some of the girls in her classes describe themselves as after an erotic dream, but still she couldn't ignore the fact that she was damp. Her throat gulped again as she lay back down, cursing herself as she knew she was going to be late if she didn't hurry up. She had never touched herself before; a part of her had told her that it was disgusting. It wasn't. She knew that it was all just a part of 'growing up' but she still didn't like the idea. Still, she couldn't keep her curios mind out of denial any longer.

Taking a shuddered breath and gulping one last time, she closed her eyes and allowed her dominant hand to snake down her body, under the waistband of her pyjama bottoms and found her fingers resting on herself. She paused, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Am I really going to do this?" She asked, whispering out loud but still quietly so she was sure that only she could here. Her mind suddenly compared herself to Noah; she could just imagine him waking up every morning doing the exact same thing she was about to do, only to himself of course, without a second thought. No. She wasn't going to do what he, and many other teenagers do. She was only going to feel. Explore. See what it would be like. Feel just how damp she was. She licked her lips once more and relaxed her eyes as her fingers slipped between her folds.

Her throat gasped at what her inspecting fingers found: she was wet. More than wet, but she _was _drenched! Her fingers slipped so easily throughout herself. Like sponges they soaked up all her...well...whatever it was. Her fingers were exploring more; running themselves up and down as she tried to feel just how damp she was until her finger slipped and caused her to stop breathing for moment.

"Oh my God." She whispered, scared and shocked at what she found. It was her entrance. She was sure she would find her clitoris first – ever since learning about it from a magazine she found on the floor of the girls' bathroom when she was cleaning herself up from being slushied – she'd wondered what it would be like to feel the things the magazine was talking about, involving that part of her anatomy. However, she had come across her centre and it scared her to think just how easily her finger could slip into it. She didn't put her finger through, still thinking it would be wrong to do so and thought she should wait until she was more comfortable with herself to do that, but it still frightened her a little bit as the access she was privy to. And if her finger could slip through, then what else could slip through quite so easily when she was that turned on, just by a dream. "Or who else?" She thought.

"Rachel honey?" She was brought out of her thoughts abruptly by the sound of her dad banging on her door. She removed her hand away from herself, ignoring the pleading she felt, and stood up. "Y..yes dad?" She asked nervously, as if he knew what she was doing to herself.

"Oh good you're awake, listen you'd better get move on or else you're going to be late. Your daddy's packed you some breakfast for you to eat at school, okay?" He told her, as Rachel rushed around gathering her clothes. "Thank you daddy, I'm just going to have a quick shower." She felt like she really needed one. She didn't feel dirty, but she didn't feel clean either. "Lightening fast princess." He called and walked away from the door.

"Yeah," she chuckled, "lightening fast."

Will had woken in a similar way, although where Rachel wasn't actually touching herself as she woke up, Will had woken to the soothing feeling of his hand subconsciously rubbing his throbbing length. He moaned and tried to grind into it, imagining it was Rachel.

His eyes snapped open as he actually said her name out loud, scared in case anyone heard him – which was impossible considering he now lived completely alone.

He removed his hand out of his sweatpants and stared at it. Disgusted with himself that he had actually done such things to himself whilst thinking of his student. He gulped as he got out of bed and made his way to the shower.

As the hot water soothed his skin, his thoughts drifted back to Rachel. As hard as he tried, he just could not shake the student out of his mind. But, just as he was lathering himself up with the minty soap, a small smile played on his lips; if the talk went well today, maybe he wouldn't feel so guilty about thinking of Rachel in such a way.

Yes she would still be his student, but maybe just maybe, she could be a little more than that. It would mean having to confess his feelings for her – all of his feelings for her – but at that moment in time, he didn't care. He wanted Rachel, not just in a sexual way but in every way; emotionally, lovingly, physically with him at all times...he was in love.

He made him slightly ashamed to think of it but, at the end of the day in all honesty, he was in love with her. All of her.

By a weird twist of fate, they had both arrived at school at near enough the same time. They walked out of the parking lot an up to the front door together, neither saying anything. Blushing slightly at their own private thoughts about the other.

"Good morning Mr Sheuster." Rachel said quietly, her head bowed as they reached the door.

"Good morning Rachel." Will smiled, as he opened the door and instructed her to go in first. She looked up at him and smiled as a way of thanking. Then they felt it. Both of them simultaneously. The throbbing was back. Both of them gasped to themselves as they locked eyes on each other. Will tried to gulp, but a lump that had suddenly formed in his throat blocked it. Rachel tried to lick her lips as they had suddenly turned too dry. Watching each other struggle to breath was enough to turn them on even more.

Finally, Will coughed to clear his throat and Rachel smacked her mouth shut. "I'll see you later." He mumbled as he walked off. "Yes." She called back, a little breathlessly, like a moan. Causing Will to turn around and look at her. "You will." She told him, blushing more but managing to smile.

They both headed off to their rooms; Will to his office and Rachel to her home-room.

Again, neither could concentrate on anything; Rachel had to keep her thighs permanently squeezed together throughout the day to relieve herself and Will had to try to think of repulsing, outrageous things to keep him from going hard. It had happened once before when he first started teaching, due to nerves, and he never forgot the humiliation of when he stood up and all his students saw and started laughing. 'Stiffy Shuester' was one nickname he never wanted to hear again. It was his own version of Finn's 'mail man' – just the sheer memory prevented him from becoming hard. That is, until that afternoon.

Will was in the middle of teaching one of his freshman classes when there was a light knock on the door. "Mr Shuester?" The voice was timid but powerful and he knew instantly who it belonged to.

He smiled at her, beckoning her to come in. "Hi Rachel, what can I-"

"I have a note for you from Principle Figgins." She thrust the folded piece of paper at him.

"Oh. Right. Thank you for," his eyes looked down at the scrunched piece of paper she handed to him. It wasn't a message from his boss at all: it was from her. "_**Meet me at the Lima Bean at Six." **_He looked back up at her, seeing her wide eyes conveying to him that she was serious. He smiled at her and nodded his head. "Thank you Rachel. You tell, er, Principle Figgins that I will be there." Rachel smiled and nodded her head as she walked backwards out of the door. "I will. Thank you." Will watched her go and felt his heart clench a little; anticipating their talk.

Will finished up marking his papers with a shaky hand. He hadn't been paying attention to the work at all. In reality he hadn't been paying attention to anything other than the dread he felt as he awaited for six o'clock to come; preparing himself mentally for 'the talk' he was going to have with Rachel.

He glanced at the clock: ten to six. That gave him at least five minutes to get ready and then race over. Frantically he gathered up his things and headed for his car. Nodding at a few teachers who had also stayed after school to finish up on their work.

"Will," he was stopped just as he was about to climb into his car. He threw his briefcase onto the back seat and closed his door. "Hey there." Smiled at one of his fellow teachers, trying to hide his anticipation in his voice. His hands were still shaking slightly, but he held them behind his back so the man wouldn't notice. "Are you coming?" He asked with a happy smile, to which Will replied with a puzzled frown. "You know, to Marty's birthday drinks do at the bar?" Will breath a sigh of relief but then frowned again. It had completely slipped his mind. "Oh, Jim I would but I..I have a ton of work I still need to do." He felt terrible about having to lie about his work commitments, when really he was about to go and meet his favourite student to discuss where their take their little 'fling' next.

He made his apologies and then got in his car, heading for the Lima Bean Coffee Shop.

Rachel had been sat there since school broke out; too nervous to go home. She'd called her fathers and told them that she was doing homework with Mercedes. Really, they were just glad that she was spending time with them; they were afraid that since they lost the competition in New York that she would want to separate herself from the Glee Kids, but she had assured them that her and Mercedes were – in the soul diva's on words – 'tight'.

She had drunk three cups of decaf coffee in an attempt to keep herself from looking nervous. She'd also been chewing on a whole pack of chewing gum in attempt to hide the stench of coffee from her breath. Her legs were shaking and her fingers were twitching.

"This is it," she mumbled, "this is where I tell him. I tell him exactly how I feel and get shot down." Her hand picked up her drink – a smoothie to give herself the fresh feel instead of yet another coffee – and took a long sip.

"Rachel?" Will had seen her as soon as he walked in; a little glow surrounding her. She was sat at a booth table at the back, probably so no one could see her. Them. "Hi Mr Shuester." Rachel's head snapped up and their shared another little moment, not quite as disastrous as their previous one that morning, but it still made her heart flutter. Will smiled at her as he sat opposite her.

"Please, call me Will when we're alone. It'll make this whole thing less..."

"Formal?" Rachel chuckled.

"Yeah. I think."

There was a little pause as they continued to look at each other. Will could see she was nervous. Although his legs were nowhere near hers, he could still feel them shaking. "Would you like something to drink?" Rachel asked, beginning to stand up. Will rose himself and held his hands out to her. "No. No thank you."

"Okay." She nodded her head and then they both sat back down. Biting her lip she began to clear the table of her school work; not wanting to give off the obvious vibe that she was in fact still a school girl. A fact he knew perfectly well, but she still wanted to be mature about things. Will apologised for being late, to which Rachel just smiled again and nodded her head.

The clock was slowly ticking and Will finally cleared his throat. "So I guess we need to talk."

"We do yes." Rachel agreed.

"Well would you-" He was about to speak, but was cut off by one of Rachel's nervous ramblings.

"Will I'm going to be honest with you because honesty is key in a situation to what we have. When we kissed in New York..it felt like I came alive. Almost as if I had been waiting my whole life for that moment to come. I'm a flower trapped in a seed that was just waited to be sowed and then Glee came along and I was planted and we got to know each other. And then New York happened and on that roof, it was just the most romantic setting and..all right I was a little tipsy and borderline drunk but I know that I was in my right frame of mind and know that I wanted to happen what happened and our lips connected, I finally burst out of my shell and I blossomed into this amazing flower. I missed you, Will. As I lay in my bed all I could think about was your kiss and what it meant; what it could have meant-"

"Could have?" Will jumped, his heart sinking a little at the fact she was using the past tense.

Rachel's eyes dropped from his and focused on her hands. "Will, you would barely look at me on the plane. In fact I think the only sentence you spoke to me was; 'you want a drink?' and even then you didn't look me in the eye." Her voice was sad and quiet, but she was adamant that she wouldn't cry. There was nothing to cry about. Not yet anyway. Will also took his eyes off of her, ashamed that he hurt her and looked at her hands too. They weren't shaking any more which meant she was relaxing. "I know. I'm sorry." He said quietly, ashamed of his behaviour.

"And I was just so angry with you and with myself because I thought that kiss meant something and-"

"It did." He shot his eyes up hers and almost sounded desperate. Rachel looked up at him and wore a little confused frown on her forehead. "What?"

"It did. It did mean something, that's why I was ignoring you. Because I had to figure it all out!" He lowered his head again, taking Rachel's hand in his. Her skin felt so soft in his; just holding her hands felt so right, although it could be seen as so very wrong. But once again, he didn't care. "Rachel, you were driving me crazy and I don't want you to think that it's your fault because it's not. It's not Rachel. I have...developed..feelings for you. And I'm ashamed because of it."

"Because of me." Rachel's eyes drooped again.

"No! No not because of you. You're an amazing person Rachel. And I would really like to be with you if only our situation was different."

"You want to be with me?" She asked, taken back.

She had convinced herself somehow that he was going to shoot her down, tell her to stop being stupid and get a grip on the reality of the situation: her was her teacher and she was his student. He was a grown man, what would he possibly want with her? A seventeen year old girl? Will just smiled sweetly at her and pushed himself closer to the table. "I do. I really do." His voice was husky and laden with..love? Rachel mirrored his smile and the glossy look in his eyes as she shifted herself to get closer to him too. "I want to be with you too."

"But Rachel, I'm your teacher. You're my student."

"I know. I'm painfully aware of that."

"But Rachel...I..I don't know what to do." He sighed, dropping his gaze once again to think. "I really like you. Really, really like you." His eyes looked up at hers and could see that she had small tears forming in them. "Say something." He whispered, pained and desperately.

Rachel dropped her eyes and head down, her hair covering her face slightly. Will wanted to reach over and wipe it away from her, he waned to stare into those beautiful eyes for the rest of eternity, but she was thinking.

Her head rose again, her eyes cleared of the tears, but only because they had slipped out and now fell slowly down her face.

"Omnia vincit amor." She sighed. "It means, love conquers all."

"You believe that?" Will asked, hope sounding through in his voice. Rachel scoffed a little and smiled at him. Taking a quick breath before answering him. "It may just be my naïve teenage girl brain but..yes, I do. I honestly believe that if we feel as strongly about each other as we do then..then I don't think we should let the law and society tell us what to do. It wouldn't be like we're hurting anyone. We'd only be hurting ourselves if we let this opportunity pass. Why are you smiling at me like that?" She had noticed that his smile had transformed into a lovable grin.

"Because sometimes I forget that you're only a seventeen year old girl. You're so wise, Rachel. That's one of the things I.." he stopped himself before he could finish his sentence.

Rachel knew what he was about to say and was glad that he didn't say it. It was far too soon to be admitting those kinds of feelings for one another. Instead, she moved around the seat and sat next to Will. His thumb was stroking circles onto her hands, making her stomach flutter and her heart melt more than it already was. "I just have to clarify something, if I may?" She asked.

"Of course you may." Will smiled.

"Can we be together? Seriously be together? Do you really have deep enough feelings for me that you would be prepared to be called my boyfriend?"

"Yes. Yes to every question you just asked."

"Really?"

"Rachel, it embarrasses me to say but I have wanted to be with you, as your boyfriend, for so long now. You have no idea how happy it makes me feel."

"I think I can relate; because I've wanted to be your girlfriend for probably just as long."

"I want nothing more but to kiss you right now."

"That's the other thing I wanted to ask."

"Go ahead."

"We have to keep this a secret."

"I thought I would have to be the one to bring this up."

"As you said, I'm very wise. I'm certainly not stupid Will, I know the risks we're getting into. For another year, you will be my teacher and I will be your student."

"But I will also be your boyfriend and you will also be my girlfriend."

"In secret."

"In secret. Doesn't that make everything seem a whole more romantic?"

"It does. Kind of like my own Broadway musical."

"With you playing the leading lady."

"And of course you as my leading man."

"Always Rachel, all long as you'll have me."

"I really want to kiss you now."

Will frowned for a moment, before his face lightened up with another smile, a small twinkle in his eyes. "Come on, I know somewhere we can go." He stood up, taking her hands in his and dragged her out of the shop.

Within ten minutes they were in a small, secluded park. A water fountain near by creating the perfect soundtrack for them. "Will what are we doing here? I know it's not dark but we shouldn't be in the park after dark-" Will pressed his finger to her lips to stop her from talking. Her eyes looked up at him, a light twinkling shining up at him. He smiled and lowered his head so that their noses were brushing gently against each other. He purred at her. "I wanted to take you somewhere where I could do this," he tipped up her chin and pressed his lips gently against hers before breaking away, "without anyone seeing us." He kissed her again, this time with Rachel wrapping her arms around his neck and pushing herself up onto her tiptoes to deepen the kiss.

Will didn't think and just slid his arms down her sides and wrapped her up more in his hug, practically lifting her off the ground. They moulded into each other and kissed deeper and more passionately. Moaning and sighing into each movement. Will slipped his tongue inside her mouth and started mashing them together. Rachel's sapped her eyes open and pulled away.

"I'm sorry," Will gulped, "I guess I just got a little carried away."

"It's okay," Rachel said, cupping his face and stroking his cheeks with her thumbs. "I..I just want to take this slow." She blushed, Will nodding his head and capturing her lips in sweet, innocent kiss.

"I understand. Why rush when we have all the time in the world to enjoy this?" He smiled against her lips and they kissed once again. "Come on, let me take you home."


	5. Summer Loving

**Chapter Four **

**Summer Loving **

Finally the last day of school had arrived. Rachel and Will had been seeing each other secretly, although it wasn't anything more serious than the occasional coffee/smoothie at the Lima Bean Coffee Shop. They hadn't wanted to risk their new forming relationship by acting strange and sneaking off during the day to make out in his office either, so for now they were just happy texting and emailing each other. All very innocent things, and to anyone who would happen to see their messages wouldn't think anything of it. Unless they read too much into the growing amount of x's that followed their names at the end.

The last Glee Session of the semester had been a success; a jamming session of them all rocking out: dancing, singing, partying...just letting off some general steam and Will laughed at how big his student's smiles were. He even let himself dance with Rachel, knowing that no one would think anything of it, seeing as they were all dancing with each other.

However, the last bell of the day, signalling the after school activities had to come to an end rang out and Will had to clutch his side from the painful stitch he had developed whilst twirling Rachel around again and again, laughing and singing to the songs. "Have a good summer guys!"

"You two Mr Shue!" The kids called back as they rushed out of the room in one large group; whooping and cheering. Glad that they didn't have to attend school any more until September.

Rachel was over at her seat, packing her things away and giving Will sly, little glances. Smiling, she zipped up her bag and left it on the chair. Will was wiping the board clean; the kids had written summer vacation messages and so it he didn't really want to clean it, he took his phone out and took a picture of the board and then aimed the camera at each of the individual messages. His eyes lingering on Rachel's swirly, pretty hand writing. Smiling at the star she had signed it with.

"So, Mr Shuester do you have any plans for the summer?" She asked, making him jump. He'd thought she'd left with the rest of them. He turned around and smirked; that mischievous glint in his eye again. "Well I was planning on spending every waking hour with my fabulous girlfriend."

"Oh really?" Rachel began walking over to him, her hands fiddling with the hem of her sweater.

"Yeah." Will walked over to her, making his steps slightly longer than Rachel's so that they eventually met in the middle. "What's she like?" Rachel asked innocently and tucking her hair behind her ears, looking up at him. "Well;" Will placed his hands on her small hips and pulled her close to him, wrapping his arms firmly, but snugly, around her until she was pressed up against him. He smiled down at her; "She's beautiful, talented, smart, witty, great company-"

"She sounds like a great girl." Rachel commented, refusing to meet his eyes but a playful smirk playing on her delicious lips. "Oh she is." Will nodded his head. "How about you?"

"Well," Rachel now looked down at the ground, keeping her smile on her lips, and then looking back up at him with her own little twinkle in her eye. She bit her lip quickly before answering him. "I'm actually volunteering with the children's community theatre."

"Oh really?" Will raised his eyebrows, generally interested in her plans.

"Yeah; they're putting on a production of the 'Wizard of Oz'"

"Ah well, we all know that you would make a perfect Dorothy, especially if you wear that little blue skirt and that little blue sleeveless button up shirt with the cute bow-" His fingers of his right hand slid up her side and played with the collar of her sleeveless white shirt. Looking down at her breasts and imagining what it would be like to hold them in his hands.

Rachel saw his gaze and smacked his hand playfully, instructing his eyes to meet hers again. She spoke with with a more forceful, serious tone. "I know I would, however I am not in the production as I am over the age of twelve. I am, however, helping with the rehearsals."

"Well, that'll look great on your college applications." Will answered, slipping into teacher mode.

"Although that's not the whole point why I'm doing it."

"Of course not." He shook his head smiled down at her.

Rachel looked up at him and began to curl her arms around his neck, her fingers running through his hair and fiddled with his curls; her love for him growing with each second that ticked by.

"Also, I too was hoping to spend a lot of time with my very own fabulous boyfriend."

"Oh, you have a boyfriend?" Will tried to pull her even closer than she was already.

"I do." Rachel smirked, trying to stay serious.

"Care to tell me what he's like?"

"Oh I don't think you'd like him, he's kind of dorky and always wears these hideous sweater-vests!"

"Hey!" Will suddenly let go of her and dropped his hands to her sides again, tickling her furiously.

The girl's beautiful laughter – almost as beautiful as her singing voice – rang through the room. She cackled like the Good Witch of the East, gasping to try and get her breath back. Will now stood behind her, continuing to run his ticklish hands all over her, holding her up against him as if he were giving her the Heinrich manoeuvre. His laughter soon mixed with hers and she started to splutter with please of surrender. "I'm kidding! I'm kidding!"

Will picked her up, spinning her around and holding her again so that she was now facing her once again. Her arms returned to around his neck and she coxed her head to the side to look up at him with adoring eyes. Lowering her voice into a more seductive tone. "He's actually adorable."

"Not as adorable as you." Will whispered.

"Mr Shuester, you can't go around telling other girls that they're adorable!" Rachel giggled, "How on Earth will your girlfriend react?"

"Well, lucky for me, my girlfriend is you."

"Oh yes. So I am."

They both continued to smile until their lips met. Connecting in a sweet kiss. A few peaceful moans were escaping from their throats, which only made their lips smile wider. Will broke away and rested his forehead on hers. Gazing into each other, trying to see into their souls.

"Come on, let's get out of here." Will said, rubbing her arms.

"Where do you want to go?" Rachel asked, twirling one of his little curls in her finger.

"I want to take you out for dinner."

"But it's four o'clock?"

"I know. I'll pick you up at seven?" Rachel beamed once more and brought her lips up to meet Will's once again. "Seven is perfect."

Their first date. It was, in a word; perfect. Will had indeed picked her up, however it was down the street, so that her fathers wouldn't get suspicious. He sent her a text to tell her he was waiting for her arrival, and within what felt like seconds she was sat next to him, planting a sweet kiss on his lips. Will took her hand in his and kissed her knuckles, Rachel then uncurled her fingers and held her palm against his mouth. Will taking each finger and kissing the tip delicatly before placing a final kiss in the centre of her palm. His eyes were hooded and he leaned into her so he could smell her sweet, minty breath. "You look beautiful." His voice was husky and sexy and Rachel bit her lip as she blushed. "You like might dapper yourself."

Instead of going to Breadstix, where all the kids at the high school went, Will took her to a much fancier restaurant; to which Rachel protested to, saying it was far too classy for a first date. "Rachel," he stopped her before she had the chance to pull him away from the doors, "You are worth every cent, my little Madame Butterfly." Rachel frowned and tipped her head to the side once again to raise her eyebrow. "You like that opera?" She questioned.

"You know of that opera?"

"I am allowed to like other genres of music besides Broadway, Will." She scolded playfully.

"Well please," he opened the door and pressed his hand to the small of her back and guided her inside, "tell me more about you fascinating self."

They spent the whole evening talking; Will about his childhood, Rachel about hers, dislikes and likes, television, movies, current affairs, even making up little stories about the other dinners, which caused them to giggle rather loudly and cause a bit of a stir amongst the others. Once Will paid the check, he picked up her hand and lead her out.

"Come on, let's get out of here and do something a little more fun."

He took her to the park where they had kissed after agreeing to become a couple. He sat Rachel down under the moon and the stars, which lit up the scenery like a set in a movie, on the fountain's ledge and proceeded to kiss her lips, after tucking a lose of strand of hair behind her ears. Rachel broke away from the sweet kiss. "Will my dress will get wet!" She complained. Will winked at her and stood up, taking off his jacket and throwing it on the ground. "What are you-"

Rachel watched him as he took off his shoes and socks, before clambering into the fountain and splashing Rachel.

"Will!" She squealed.

"Come on Rach!" He laughed, "live a little!" He continued to splash her, until she gave in, slipping her ballet pumps off, picking up her skirts and climbing in. "Here I'm in!" She pouted, but her eyes smiling at him. "Good! Now play!" He splashed further, causing her to squeal and laugh. She splashed back and soon enough they were completely drenched.

Will returned her home, she was still dripping wet and had damped his car seat but he didn't care. "What will you say to your dads?" He asked, as she dried her hair with his jacket. She shrugged.

"I'll tell them the truth." Will's eyes widened and Rachel laughed as she placed a hand on his cheek, causing him to stop his movements. "The truth being that I lived a little and had some fun!"

"Well good. As long as that's all the truth you'll be revealing." Will sighed.

"Thank you, for such a wonderful evening. It was truly the best date I've ever had," she then kissed his damp lips, "And that's the truth." She whispered against his lips before leaving.

They spent the whole summer together. Literally. Will surprised her at the opening night of the production of Wizard of Oz. The kids were enthusiastic and he could hear a bit of Rachel Berry in every note they sang; he knew she had influenced them all and it made him beam with pride. When she came out onto the stage to receive a special bow, a thanks for helping them out, Will stood up in his seat and cheered as loudly as he could. He was given a few stares by the parents, but he didn't care. The only pair of eyes he cared about we from the chocolate brown ones smiling at him from the stage. She beamed at him, completely surprised and flattered that he had shown up and watched her performance. Well, the performance of the children that she had helped out with.

"I can't believe you came!" She gushed as he met her at the stage door, brandishing a bouquet of lilies. She gushed even more at the sight and she threw herself on him and began smothering his face and neck in kisses, completely ignoring the giggles and stares from the children walking past. "What was that for?" Will asked after he finished twirling he around and placing her back on the ground, bending slightly because she still had her arms around his neck. "I can't believe you remembered my favourite flowers!"

"Well, I like to remember things about my favourite girl." He picked her up and carried her, bridal style, back to his car to take her out to dinner.

It was now less than one week to go until school started again, and Will and Rachel were laying on the grass by their fountain. Holding hands and looking up at the sky. The sun's rays warming their faces. Will detached his hand from hers and placed it on her stomach, making light patterns on it before sighing.

"You know things are going to get a whole lot more complicated when we go back to school."

"I don't want to think about school." Rachel moaned, closing her eyes and enjoying his touch on her. "We have to Rach." Will sighed. Rachel took hold of his wrist and stopped his calming strokes and rolled onto her side to face him. Will did the same. She brought his hand to her mouth and kissed the tips; lightly sucking on them and trailing light kissed down to his palm and along his arm until she met his chest, finally resting her head against him. "Can't we just stay like this forever?"

"What and not go back to school?" Will pretended to be shocked but cradled his girl in his arms.

"Yeah." She sighed, nuzzling him.

"I'd love to, but unfortunately I have bills to pay and you have an education you need to get if you want to get into Juliard."

"You make a good argument."

"I hope so." He picked up her chin with his finger and placed a soft kiss on her lips. She ran her fingers over his eyes and lips before allowing him to speak. "So, come on we need to talk."

"Oh oh, that never goes well."

"It will this time, I promise."

"Okay, go ahead. Tell me what's on your mind."

"Well you obviously." He growled as he sat them both up.

They shuffled themselves over to the fountain and rested against the cool marble. "I'm being serious, so at school we'll just have to put our acting skills to the test. We can't let anyone know about us. I don't want you to get into trouble, resulting you into being fired and put in jail."

"I wouldn't let that happen."

"Me either, but we have to be realistic Will. We knew the consequences when we first started dating."

"I think I knew of the consequences when I first kissed you."

"There we go then; we have been aware of what could happen if we make a mistake and I will not let that happen. I can't live without you."

"I can't live without you either Rachel. This has been the best summer of my life."

"Mine too."

"So, come Monday, we go back to being Mr Shuester and Rachel Berry."

"Right. Although, technically I was always Rachel Berry and you were always Mr Shuester."

"Not with you; with you I'm Will."

"With me you're charming and wonderful."

"I hope so."


	6. Winter Wonderland

**Chapter Five**

**Winter Wonderland**

Three months. Three months of pure bliss. The secrecy made their relationship even more magical.

After Glee club, whilst Rachel was plastering Will with kisses she asked him a question that had been on her mind for a few days. "So are you going to the Winter Wonderland Dance?" She resumed her kissing, loving the way his throat vibrated against her lips as he spoke. "Yeah," he sighed, not sure from the pleasurable kisses he felt from his girlfriend – that were driving him insane as she had warned him to keep his hands firmly on her waist – or if it was the fact he had to go to the dance. He chose the first option as it made him happier. More relaxed at the idea of going. "I'm chaperoning along with half the other teachers."

"Oh right." Rachel mumbled, now nipping at his collarbone. "So you'll be there?"

"Yeah." He sighed again. "All night." His then opened as he felt a shot of pain run through him, Rachel's teeth biting down on his bone being the reason why. "Why do you ask?"

"Well," Rachel threw her head up. "I was just wondering if you wanted to go with me." She smirked at him and then kiss his cheeks, then his forehead after each word. "As...my...date." Letting her lips linger and press themselves firmer onto his forehead.

Will was afraid she would ask him to go with her. He sighed and took Rachel's hands in his own. At the contact, Rachel moved her face of Will's forehead and looked at him again. "Rachel I would love nothing more than to take you to your last Winter Wonderland Dance, but it's just too risky."

"I understand." She nodded, furrowing her eyebrows as she thought of how she would be able to get what she wanted. After all, that was one of her key skills. "How about this;" her eyes sparkled and she threw her head back up, catching Will off guard. "You can pick me up." Will was confused, but decided to see where she was going with this statement. "I could, but what about your fathers? Won't they think it's a little suspicious having your teacher pick you up to take you to the dance?" Rachel smiled and the bright shine in her eyes began to twinkle and sparkle like the real star she was. "You're right however I've thought of that."

"Of course you have." He smirked, sniggering a little. Rachel climbed off his lap and stood over him.

"You come and pick me up, but tell them that you're only doing it because you're worried about my safety; it's no secret that the punch bowl gets spiked on a regular occurrence at these dances and that the students go and drink before hand anyway. So, you tell them what they want to here; as a chaperone you won't be drinking anything except your own bottled water, that way their precious little baby girl will be completely safe and more safe with you than with a possibly drunk teenage boy who, let's face it, might want to take advantage of me."

"I like your thinking Berry." Will said, taking her hands and pulling her back onto his lap so he could continue to kiss her; putting his tongue inside her mouth to deepen the kiss.

"So, you can pick me up and take me home?" Rachel said, letting go of his mouth and his tongue.

"I would love to. For your safety of course." Will nodded, latching their mouths together again.

"Of course." Rachel's voice was muffled by his mouth and she pushed herself off him again, this time holding his face in her hands. "And you can tell me how beautiful I look throughout the dance?"

"Absolutely." Will nodded, trying to move his face closer to hers. "For your self esteem of course."

"Of course. And you can maybe accompany me in the slow dance?" That stopped him. His face froze and his body tensed. He wanted to kiss her, but knew he had to say something. His hands picked Rachel's off his cheeks and he kissed her palms. "Rachel, I would love to. I want nothing more than to tell you how beautiful you are and dance with you in front of the whole school-"

"But it's too risky." Rachel sighed, looking down at his chest.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. We'll just have to have our own slow dance sometime."

"Yeah, we will." He took his arms and wrapped them around her back, pressing her torso into his.

"So it's not a date," Rachel stated, "but rather a series of fortunate coincidences."

"Perfect."

The night of the Winter Wonderland Dance had arrived. The buzz in the school was infectious; all the students were grinning and planning, whispering to each other and pointing at their dates they would be going with later that night. It was Friday and the last day day of school, before they had their winter break and would arrive back to school on the fifth day of the New Year.

As he was surrounded by excitable teenagers, Will couldn't stop himself but feeling giddy too: he was going to escort Rachel to the dance and he would her date. Secrete date, but date all the same. He smiled to himself as he marked papers at his desk. Of course, a certain brunette and her irresistible smooth, tan thigh peeking out under her cute, winter, oh so dangerously short skirt, staring at him over her red festive knee high socks kept distracting him.

She was, of course, sat in the centre of the front row: in a perfect spot to have all of his attention focused solely on her. She was cute and adorable in her little Christmas Cheer outfit; her hair in little bunches and snow kissed rosy cheeks. A white shirt with a Peter Pan collar poking out of her red sweater, decorated with two white penguins kissing whilst surrounded by falling, drifting snowflakes. Her skirt was also red and white, tartan and her white beret and red shoes completed her 'grown up girl being a little girl' look perfectly. If it weren't for the rising and falling swell of her small but tender breasts rising in front of him, she would have remained looking adorable. But then her actions made Will smirk, remembering once again that she was not a young girl. Little, but definitely not young. No. She was all woman.

Will felt himself swallow loudly as he clenched his muscles together as he watched her with awe. Her blue pen held lightly in her fingers. Placed firmly in the corner of her delicious mouth, clenched between her pearly white teeth, her tongue darting out momentarily as she licked her glossy lips. Not only was she an outstanding singer with an equally brilliant beauty, but she was very clever at being able to plague his thoughts with dirty images and ideas. She knew how to turn him on. And right now, he was about twenty students away from grabbing her and taking her on his desk.

"If it weren't for those God damn other students!" He cursed as he furrowed his brows and continued to drool over her. Her smoky eyes flickered up to him and she winked mischievously at him, giggling at the power she had over him. He raised his eyebrow at her in a quirky fashion and bit his lip as he watched her mouth three fantastic words at him; "I love you." She gave him that sweet smile that made him see that, even though she acted like she was all grown up, she was still Rachel. His Rachel. His little Berry; that was sweet, sensitive and full of life. He relaxed in his chair more as made a mental note, the same one he had made many times when he felt himself get hot and bothered thinking about her or being with her; "Wait until she's ready." He then cleared his throat and stood up.

"All right class, I think I've tortured you enough." The class stopped their writing and gave him puzzled looks. "Go on, get out of here and get an early lunch." He beamed, expecting them to all jump out of their seats and run straight through the wall. Yet, they remained in their seats, still looking at him as if he lost his mind. Maybe he had. Finn cautiously raised his hand to speak, his eyes darting around the room. "But Mr Shue, we still have twenty minutes?" Will smirked at him, "So you would rather I give you guys another test instead of getting out here twenty minutes early?" Puck stood up from his chair and grabbed his things, followed by a few of the other students. "Hell no!" He laughed, "See you later Mr Shue!" Soon, all the other students were scrambling to get their things and rushed out. Well, all but one student. "Rachel can I see you for a moment before you leave? I'd just have a few issues about this assignment you handed in." He said in his best, most professional teacher voice.

Rachel placed her things neatly inside her backpack and, waiting until the door had been closed, walked up to him, shuffling a little. Her hands behind her back and her head slightly bent, eyes looking up at him through her eyelashes and pouting a little; all the signs of an innocent little girl. "Did I do something wrong, Mr Shuester?" She asked in her light voice, extending out his name. Will gulped and beckoned her to come to him, around the desk as he spoke. "Well Miss Berry," he shook his head, "I'm afraid that you're assignment just was not up to scratch."

"Oh no!" Rachel gasped, trying to sound scared.

"Yes, oh no. You see I'm afraid this work just won't do and I'm going to have to give you a firm telling off." He tried to hide his smirk as he pounded out the word 'firm'. Rachel sighed dramatically, twirling her bunches in her fingers. "Well if that's what you have to do to make me learn, then I guess I'll just have to take your punishment." She stepped closer to him and pouted more as she saw him swivel round in his chair to face her, tapping his thigh with his hand he raised his eyebrows again. She sighed again, rolling her eyes at him and sat down lightly on his thigh. She could feel herself getting worked up and was thankful for the contact. "Now I'm afraid Rachel," Will began again, taking her hands in his and wrapping them around his neck, moving his own hands to her waist. "This punishment won't be light, in fact it will be very," he stroked the length of her arms and leaned his face closer to hers, "very," he snarled at her, "very hard." And then just as Rachel was about to kiss his lips, he pushed his face to her cheek and then peppered her jaw and neck with hot, hard kisses.

She whimpered and closed her eyes, gripping onto his hair. Her hips began rocking on his thigh, needing to get rid of the annoying ache she was feeling. And had felt all throughout his lesson. Will stopped his kisses and pulled his face back to look at Rachel. She tried to slow her 'thrusting' on his thigh. She knew, as well as he did, that if she didn't stop soon they would both need to take care of their issues that were slowly arising – his faster than hers.

"Rachel," he said breathlessly as he held her hips in place so she stopped. "We need to cool off."

"I'm sorry Will." She sighed, feeling embarrassed and turning the same colour as her sweater. She swallowed and licked her lips so she could speak without sounding too hoarse. "You just make me want you so badly, you know?" She looked up at him, but moved her gaze away from him, still feeling ashamed. "I know. You make me crazy too, that's why I just let out a class of students leave for lunch early, just so I could hold you!" He gave her a sideways smile and picked up her chin and turning her face toward him. Even with her facing him, she still didn't look at him. "Rach," he whispered sending shivers down her spine, "Look at me. Please?" After a moment, Rachel sighed and looked at him square in his loving eyes. He smiled at her and whispered once again; "Te amo."

"Te amo también Will." She whispered back, giving him a small smile. Will wrapped the hand that was still on her hips around her waist and brought his other hand to her cheek. "No quiero volver a salir." He breathed against her lips. She loved it when he spoke Spanish to her. "Quiero darte un beso para siempre." He hummed and then connected their lips together.

Seven o'clock came around slower than Will hoped. He had arrived at Rachel's a whole thirty minutes early, and it was doing nothing for his nerves. He would be meeting her parents. Not for the first time of course, he'd met them at school events and parent/teacher nights. But this was the first time _meeting_ them. At their home! Before climbing out of the car, he checked himself over once more and told him to remain calm; "Cool it Will. They don't know anything. They don't suspect anything. You and Rachel are careful. Besides, you're dating not sleeping with her. Oh God but happens when we do..." He stopped himself as he felt his cheeks flair up again. "Stop it! Not tonight and for God sakes not now!" He opened the door and stepped out, the cool air instantly healing him of his problem. Steadily, he walked up the drive way and took one last breath before ringing the doorbell.

Inside the house he heard one of Rachel's fathers. "Rachel!" Leroy called.

"I'll be down in a minuet" He smiled as he heard Rachel's songbird voice.

"Your date's here!"

"I told you dad, I don't have a date."

"Then why is there a particular dapper young man here to," The voice was louder and then door swung open to reveal the more masculine Mr Berry, standing there and staring at him with a puzzled expression. "Mr Shuester?"

"Good evening Mr Berry," Will greeted, shaking his hand and then noticing Rachel's other father with the same confused expression as his husband. "Mr Berry." Will smiled, shaking his hand also.

"Good evening." Hiram said, looking at his husband curiously. Leroy turned back to Will.

"I er..hate to sound rude but, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, didn't Rachel tell you? I'm chaperoning the dance and, seeing as we live rather close, I thought it would be easier for Rachel to get to the dance if I take her. If that's all right of course." The two men looked at each other again, before Hiram smiled at Leroy and moved out of the way.

"Of course, why don't you come inside." Leroy said, opening the door wider for him to walk through. "Rachel will be down momentarily."

"Thank you." Will said, as he stepped inside and listened to the door close behind him.

He was in Rachel's house. With her parents standing right in front of him. He felt nervous; his palms sweating and his shirt feeling too tight and restricting. He cleared his throat and stuck his hands in his pocket, fisting his pocket to give him something to do. "I know it might appear as rather odd for a teacher to be escorting his pupil to a high school dance but, I really do have Rachel's best interest and well being at heart."

"What do you mean?" Hiram asked worriedly.

"Well I hate to worry you both, but it is no secret that the punch bowl gets spiked on a regular occurrence at these dances and that the students go and drink before hand anyway. I am only concerned about Rachel's well being and safety. Not only as my student, but as my Glee Club Captain and best singer, I would hate anything to happen to her. Especially when some of the boys in our school unfortunately don't understand that no means no."

"He's right Leroy," Hiram said, resting his hand on his tall husband's shoulder. "We don't want any sexually frustrated high school boys trying to take advantage of our princess. Remember when that Finn boy tried to touch her breasts?" Will blushed and coughed at the mention of Rachel's breasts. He himself had only ever touched them a few times, above her clothes of course, but he still didn't want to hear about anyone else touching them. Or picturing them in front of Rachel's fathers. Leroy could see that Will was uncomfortable, he too was blushing at the mention of his daughter's breasts; something probably no father wants to hear about. "Er Hiram, I don't think Mr Shuester wants to hear about that."

"Of course, I'm so sorry you heard that Mr Shuester."

"It's fine;" Will choked out, still trying to get the image of Rachel's bra covered breasts out of his mind. He then thought of his own version of the mail man and shook all thoughts of their daughter naked out of his brain. He decided to get them off any track with a statement that all fathers think about and like to hear. "If I ever have a daughter one day I wouldn't let her anywhere near teenage boys, after all I was one once, we all know what they can be like around teenage girls!" Will chuckled at them both. "Well...yes but not us." Leroy said, wrapping his arm around Hiram's shoulders. Will blushed again, thinking how stupid he was. "They're GAY Will!" His inner voice shouted at him. "Of course. I'm sorry." He apologised.

"It's not a problem Mr Shuester, we're just joking with you." Leroy laughed, taking his arm away from his husband and patting Will on the back. "Oh! Right, of course. By the way, Mr and Mr Berry, please call me Will. Mr Shuester sounds so formal and seeing as we're not at school I think it would make me especially feel more comfortable if you both called me Will."

"In that case, Will, please address us by Leroy and Hiram."

"Of course."

"Mr Shuester?" Rachel's voice sounded throughout the house.

Will turned to look at her and smiled instantly. She definitely wasn't a little girl in that dress. It was cream with a light pink sash around her waist. The spaghetti straps looked almost invisible against her smooth skin. The dress was long but it didn't float down the stairs like a prom dress; it looked almost like a wedding dress: it was straight down and smooth, silky, beautiful and simple. Like her. She had a simple cream and pink shawl around her shoulders to keep her warm, but it radiant her elegance. Her hair was wavy and was put up with little snowflake clips. Her make up was simple and wintry. She was a Winter Wonderland Queen.

"Rachel." Will sighed, just about audible. "Good evening, wow you look breathtaking." Rachel blushed at him as she stepped off the final step and onto the floor, standing in front of him.

"Why thank you Mr Shuester, you look rather handsome yourself." She commented, wanting to run her hands over his suit and straighten his tie; like wives and girlfriends did to their husbands and boyfriends in the movies. Instead she kept her hands held in front of her and looked up into his eyes. "Te amo." She said to herself, hoping he somehow heard her thoughts. "Very in fact."

Will stepped up to her, ignoring her fathers and picked up her hand.

"Te ves sensacional, la chica más bella del mundo." Will told her smiling into her eyes, "Que será la chica más guapa de la sala esta noche, y todas las otras noches. No importa lo que la habitación, no importa lo que la noche, usted siempre será la chica más guapa que nunca, la gracia con su presencia."

He kissed her hand and looked into her eyes once more.

Once he finished his flirting, he faced the two Berry men, who just watched as the man they trusted kissed their teenage daughter's hand. They didn't think anything of it. Well, Hiram didn't. Leroy, however, scrunched his eyes up at Mr Shuester a little. Of course, he wasn't going to say anything. He trusted Will and he trusted his daughter.

Will dropped Rachel's hand and cleared his throat. "So er; Leroy, Hiram what time is Rachel allowed to stay out until?" He asked, hoping that his question would make them forget about what they had just seen. Leroy spoke just as Hiram was about, stepping forward slightly. "Well, usually her curfew is eleven on the weekends, but seeing as it is her last high school Winter Wonderland Dance, we're extending that curfew to midnight."

"Really dad?" Rachel asked, her eyes widening at their generosity.

"Really. We trust that you won't go to one of those wild after-parties and get spectacularly drunk?"

"Absolutely not dad. Besides, if Mr Shuester is willing to bring me back home then I wouldn't want to drag him to one. Not that I want to go to one myself either."

"Glad to hear it princess." Hiram commented from behind his husband.

"Shall we get going?"Will asked, twitching his head towards the door.

"Yes we shall." Rachel smiled, about to open the door but stopped as she saw Will open it for her. He held his arm out to her, waiting for her to take it. "Your chariot awaits my lady." Rachel had to bit her lip to stop herself from breaking out into a huge grin. She took it and felt her body tingle with his touch. "Why thank you kind sir." She looked into his eyes and then turned to her fathers. "Goodnight dad, goodnight daddy."

"Have fun." Hiram called, waving at them both.

"See you later honey." Leroy nodded his head and watched them walk down the steps. "Oh and Rachel?" He couldn't stop himself; she was only going to a high school dance. It wasn't like he was watching her walk down the aisle to go and get married. They were walking down his driveway! And the man's arm she was latched onto was her teacher! "Yes dad?" Rachel asked, swinging her head round to face him. Leroy took in the sight before her; his baby girl almost all grown up.  
>"You really do look beautiful." He smiled, winking before he started crying.<p>

"Thank you." Rachel whispered, touched by his words.

Will and Rachel walked down the lightly frost dusted driveway; their fingers slowly stroking each other's arms as they went. Will opened the car door for Rachel and helped her inside, before closing it, running around and climbing inside himself. He started the engine and began to drive.

"You really do look beautiful Rachel." Will said, finally after feeling like he couldn't speak.

"Thank you Will."

"Seriously, my heart literally stopped beating as you descended the stairs. I was surprised I didn't pass out from your beauty."

"Okay now you're being over dramatic!"

"No I'm being serious! You're beautiful all the time but I've never seen you look so..radiant."

"Thank you." Rachel smiled and kept her eyes focused on the road ahead, until she frowned. The car was slowly and eventually stopped. "Why are you stopping?" Will turned to face her, smiling.

"Well I didn't think it would be appropriate to kiss you in front of your unsuspecting fathers."

"Well you did just kiss my hand! But, you're probably right." Rachel giggled.

"Come here." He held the back of her head, careful not to mess up her hair and gave her soft, delicate kiss on her strawberry lip gloss coated lips. "Plus, I wanted to give you this." He said, springing away from her face but reaching over Rachel and getting a small violet box out of the glove compartment. Rachel frowned at him, unsure of what it was. Will handed it to her and nodded at her, instructing her to open it.

She carefully lifted the lid and her gasped, her eyes widening. "A corsage?" It was a lilly corsage; white almost cream with pink and magenta dusting on it. A pink ribbon to tie onto her wrist, matching the sash she wore around her tiny waist."That's right." Will nodded, smiling, although nervous in case she didn't like it. "But...but why? It's not prom, I thought girls only got these at prom?"

"Well that might be true but, I still wanted to give you one." Rachel melted at his generosity and sighed at the flower's delicate beauty. It reminded Will of her. Everything reminded him of her.

"It's beautiful. Lilies are my favourite."

"I know. I remember you telling me on our first date."

"You remember that far back?"

"I remember everything about you." Will told her quietly, before fitting it onto her wrist and kissing her again."How did you know which colour to get?"

"Well, I may have sent a spy to the dress shop to tell me what colour dress you were going to be wearing."

"That's cheating!"

"Well would you rather I did that or got you a corsage that looked completely out of place and ruin your beauty?"

"You're right. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Besides, I think the cream and pink looks really dainty on you"

"Dainty?"

"Yeah. It suits you." He kissed her one last time, thinking he would never get tired of kissing her.

"Come on let's get going before people start to wonder where we are!"

They arrived at the school, ignoring the few stares they got as Will helped Rachel out of his car. Again, he gave her his arm and he lead her into the gym where the dance was being held.

Everything was blue and sparkly. Icy and wintry; a mixture of Narnia at the beginning of the book, and the North Pole that children dream about. Rachel gasped and beamed at Will as they gazed around the room, squeezing onto his arm. "Rachel!" Mercedes called. She was dancing with two very handsome men that went by the names of Blaine and Kurt, the rest of the Glee Club dancing around the; Santana twirling Brittany around and around, Quinn being held by Finn from behind, Artie and Puck doing some very strange break dance movements – Artie twirling around in his wheelchair – and Tina and Mike practically glued together.

Rachel smiled up at Will and dragged him over to them. "Hey guys." She beamed at them.

"Hey Rachel, why is Shue on your arm?" Mercedes asked laughing. Rachel looked at their intertwined arms. "Oh well, Mr Shuester gave me a ride here." She told her, thinking that would be the end of it. "Is that why you're late?" Blaine asked, holding Kurt's hand and singing it back and forth. Rachel and Will looked at each other, a blush forming on both their cheeks. Rachel opened her mouth to answer, but Will beat her to it, taking his arm away from Rachel's. "Yeah. Her dads wanted to talk to me."

"Make sure you didn't take advantage of their daughter, hey Shue?" Puck laughed, punching fists with Artie. Will gulped and looked down at Rachel. "Of course not Puck." He grumbled.

About two hours into the dance, the music changed and all the couples made their way onto the dance floor. Will bent his head down to Racel's ear and whispered to her, his voice sending little shivers down her spine again. "Rachel, the slow dance is about to begin."

"I know, that's why I moved next to you, I may not be able to dance with you but at least I can still stand with you." Feeling his breath on her neck made her almost...no. No she wouldn't think those thoughts, she wouldn't allow herself to. She then felt an arm snake around her waist. His voice, his handsome voice, was back to her ear."What if I told you, you can dance with me." She didn't dare look at him, and instead kept her eyes on the blue and white lights that were currently blinding her. "I thought you said it was too risky for us to be seen dancing together?" Will smiled against her. His other hand slid down to hers and linked their fingers together. "Come with me."

"What?" She now turned her head to face him/

"No girl should miss out on a slow dance. Come on!" He tugged at her arm and lead her out of the gym, down the halls and away from prying eyes. "Where are we going?" She asked.  
>"Close your eyes."<p>

"Will-"

"Just close your eyes." He said a little more forcefully, but making sure she heard the laugher in his tone. She huffed, not liking being told what to do, and closed her eyes. Will continued to walk her down the dark, empty halls and took her to the choir room. Once opening the door and flicking on the special light he had prepared earlier, he rested his chin on her shoulder, let go of her hand and wrapped both arms around her waist. "Okay...open them!"

Rachel opened her eyes slowly and then felt tears make their way to the surface of them as she saw a smaller, more beautiful version of the gym. It was dark, but there were blue and white lights shining through. The floor covered with thick fake snow so that they could make tracks as if they were outside, snowflakes and stars hanging from the ceiling and bubbles being blown around the room. The faint, but loud enough, sound of "Remember When" being played through a hidden CD player. Will shuffled them both inside and guided her under a spotlight.

"Will." Rachel whispered in awe of the hard work he'd gone into. "It's...it's magical!"

"You like it?" He asked in a hopeful, quiet voice.

"Like it? I...I don't know what to say."

"Hopefully something along the line of 'I like it'?"  
>"Will," She turned around in his arms so he could see her tears prickling in her eyes. "I love it."<p>

"Good." He picked up her hand and kissed it again, stepping away from her and bowing like a prince in a Disney film. He held his hand out to her. "So, your slow dance my lady?" Rachel smiled at him and took his hand. As he brought her body to his she looked up at him. "Our slow dance."

Will began to dance with Rachel; placing his hand lightly on her waist and taking her other hand in his own, Rachel holding onto his shoulder. At first, they shuffled back and forth, getting lost in each others eyes. As the second song came on, they began to do their own version of the Waltz. Will twirled her around, opened his arm out and spun her back into him. They smiled and laughed when they got the steps wrong but apart from that they didn't speak. Just enjoying being with each other. After about the ninth or tenth song, Rachel's head was rested against his chest and was pressed against him in a loving embrace. Her eyes were closed, and she could feel herself relaxing more and more listening to the soft beat of his heart.

Closing his eyes, Will kissed the top of Rachel's head. "I love you so much Rachel." He told her, opening them again and continuing to sway them both. "I love you too Will." Rachel whispered in a dreamy voice; feeling like the most special girl in the world. "This has been such as magical night."  
>"Well it's not over yet." Will smiled and tipped her head up to look her in the eyes.<p>

"What else do you have planned?" Rachel asked, wrapping her arms around the back of his neck.

"Well I love that dress on you, but it would look a whole lot better if it was on the floor."

"Oh that is a terrible line Will!" She laughed at him and his Noah Puckerman ways.

"I'm sorry. But hey, it may be terrible but did it work?"

"Let's just go back to your place okay?"

"Okay. But Rach, I don't want to pressure you into doing anything you don't want to do."

"I know. You're a gentleman." She told him, kissing his gently.

Somehow, they sneaked out of the school without being noticed. He knew he would have to go back to the school at some point to clean up the choir room. It wouldn't take long, but it would take him away from Rachel.

Back at his place they relaxed against into each other watching an old black and white movie. Will running his fingers through Rachel's silky hair. She had taken the clips out and had got herself out of the dress, but changing into Will's old Mckinnley High sweater, pulling it down over her knees so she wouldn't have to wear shorts. Although she had a weird fantasy of wearing his clothes. Her head was resting against him and her fingers were rubbing his thigh, not in a sexual way but just in a comforting 'I'm here' kind of way.

Just as she was about to drift off into a relaxing, peaceful sleep, she cleared her throat and spoke.

"Will, I'm ready." She held her breath, wanting to know but at the same time not wanting to knw what Will was going to say or how he was going to react. She felt him stiffen and then he reached over to the remote control and turned the television off. "You are?" He asked, a little scared.

Rachel sat up, crossed her legs and faced him. "Yes." She said bluntly.

"But I thought you wanted to wait-"

"Until I was eighteen and it's my eighteenth next week. I understand that on people's birthdays that they get given gifts, well I want to give you a gift too."

"Rachel, you don't have to. Not if you don't want to-"  
>"But I want to." She took hold of his face and tried to see into his soul again. "I love you so much Will. I see a future with us and...part of that future involves us being intimate with each other."<p>

"As long as you're sure?"

"Positively sure."

Two weeks later and Will found himself standing outside Rachel's house. He had rung the doorbell and within seconds, Rachel was greeting him with a smile. It faded when she saw him, scared instantly in case her fathers saw him. She stepped outside, closing the door. "Will? What are you-"

"Hi." He smiled, hoping to see her delightful smile light up the rather gloomy, snow filled clouds day. Seeing that she wasn't going to smile back he tried to go with a different approach. He tuck a strand of her brown ringlets behind her ear. "Not seeing you on your birthday nearly killed me." He knew how much she loved it when it his fingertips touched the back of her ear. Stroking her lightly.

"It nearly killed me too," she sighed and pressed herself into his touch, "but what about my dads?"

"Oh well, yeah I kinda missed them too." He giggled, trying to lighten her feelings.

"You know what I mean!" She hissed, trying to scowl at him but a smile played on her lips instead.

"Rachel, my madame butterfly, I just came to give you this." He presented her with a small rectangular gift. Rachel looked at it and then back at him. "Will, this is too much."

"You don't even know what it is yet, so you can't say that." He smiled. Rachel sighed and rolled her eyes. "I was going to wait until we got back to school but, I guess I can't now." She went back inside and reappeared with a gift for Will too. She held it out to him. "Merry Christmas Will."

"Happy Chanukah Rachel. See you at Puck's party?" Will asked.

"You're going?" Rachel asked, a little shocked that he was invited and actually going.

"Of course, it means that I can see you and be your New Year kiss without creating suspicion." He leaned down and kissed her cheek. Just before he was about to go, Rachel gabbed onto his hand and pulled him back. "Maybe not just my New Year kiss." She whispered against his ear.  
>"What do you mean?" Will whispered back. Rachel bit her lip, wondering if she should tell him.<p>

"All I'm saying is...make sure you bring a condom." Will's eyes almost exploded. He couldn't believe what Rachel had told him and what she was implying.

Before he had chance to speak however she had gone back inside. Leaving Will with her ghostly sent around his head and light touch on his fingers.

"Happy New Year!" Puck greeted them both as he opened the door, clearly wasted already. Will had escorted Rachel to the party – for her safety of course – and laughed at his wonky hat. "Come on in Shue! My hot fellow Jew! Say, that rhymes!" He blew on his noise maker and led them through, laughing and slurring all the way.

The house was packed. Will just prayed that he was the only other teacher there, mostly just so hie could be around Rachel – and the drunk teenagers – without feeling guilty or like he needed to hide. They got into the full swing of things; dancing and talking, eating, playing games, drinking non alcoholic beverages – both saying that they were driving. Soon enough, there was less than an hour to go before the big count down.

Rachel grabbed hold of Will's hand and tugged him away from the crowd. She began to put on her coat and handed his to him. Just as she was about to leave the house he took hold of her hand and pulled her back against the door. "Rachel, are you sure you want to do this? I know you're eighteen now, but that doesn't mean you have to do this if you're not ready?" Rachel breathed onto his lips, blinking at him and then rolling her eyes, as if she had to explain once again something that didn't need to be. "Will, I've been ready since we first stared dating. I have strong feelings for you and every time I see you I want to be with you." She cupped his face with her hands and brought his lips close to hers. "I'm ready, Will, I am so glad that my first time will be with you." She kissed him, not caring if anyone saw and within seconds they were out of the house and driving to Will's apartment.

All evening he had tried not think of what was to come. In the car ride he kept his focus on the road, although his eyes kept on wandering to the lightly humming girl beside him her drummed her fingers on her tights covered thigh. She was nervous too. Of course she was. Although she had told him that she wanted to do this, she was still obviously going to nervous. And scared.

For a while now, Rachel had been picturing how her first time would be. She'd done research into what happened – and what could happen. After looking up the dangers; STDs and STIs, pregnancy and the emotional and physical things of what happened she changed course. Some of the stuff frightened her. Some of it grossed her out and actually made her gag. She'd even gone to the library to get some books out and went to the doctor's to get some advice; although she claimed it was for a cousin who was nervous about their first time. At least part of it was true: she was nervous.

Mostly, she was nervous about not being able to satisfy Will. He was older than her and therefore a lot more experienced. Not to mention the fact that he had been married! How much more pressure is that? The things that married men and women did with each other was...scary!

The night before she had stayed up after her fathers had gone to bed, so there was little chance of them walking in on her, and she researched what sex was like for the first time. She also googled a more romantic approach to sex. So far in her research she had come across just the physical and biological side of things. But she was a Broadway girl. She lived for romance. So, she typed into the search engine; 'Love Making for the first time.'

After reading a few personal stories of people's first times, she felt a whole lot better. All of the websites she had been on and the books and pamphlets she had read had all said the same thing; relax. She knew Will would be gentle with her and would make it an 'enjoyable' experience, but she also knew that he would make it relaxing, because there was no way he was going to take advantage of her or pressure her. Will really was a great man after all.

Will felt pressured. He had to make this the best experience of her life. Anything to make sure she didn't regret it. Especially with him. He'd planned a little ahead; nothing mushy and stereotypical like rose petals on the bed and candles, but he'd made sure his apartment was clean, that he used the nice sheets and that his fridge and cupboards were stocked full of food – the next morning of course. What would be more romantic that waking up to the aroma of freshly made pancakes and coffee after a passionate night of sex? No. Not sex. Love making.

Pulling up outside his apartment, Will cut the engine and allowed it to cool down before turning to Rachel. She was staring out the window, deep in thought as her nose made that cute little crinkle. He took his hands off the steering wheel and reached out to hold her hand. At the contact, she looked at him. Turning her head fast.

"Are you ready for this?" He asked, seriously and softly. Rachel nodded her at him. "No Rachel, I need to hear you say it. I need you to tell me verbally that you're ready, otherwise I won't do it." He was being such a gentleman. He was being kind and considerate. Most guys she knew would probably take the nod of her head as a green light, the fact that Will wanted her to tell him made her even all the more sure that she wanted to make love to him. Her lips upturned into a bright smile. Her hand squeezed his and she opened her mouth. "Will, I am ready. One hundred percent."

Inside his apartment, Will still held her hand and lead her through. She'd been there before, obviously, but she had never been in his room. It was his idea. Every time he took her back to his place, he made sure they kept their activities to on the couch. That way, there was no chance they would be able to get stuck or do anything that Rachel wasn't comfortable with. They both had always thought it would be best for her to lose her virginity in a bed and not on the floor or up against a wall.

As she was walked to his room, Rachel looked over at the couch and remembered the first time they talked about sex. Properly talked about having sex with each other.

It was one of the hottest days of the summer vacation. The two of them had gone swimming in the next town over's pool – that way no one would see them being couple-ish towards each other. Now they were back at Will's place, on the couch and in the middle of a steamy make out session. Safe to say, it was hot as the temperature.

Will had unbuttoned Rachel's blouse and was now kissing her neck. They were panting and moaning at each other. Rachel had ripped Will's shirt off his body and ran her hands along his chest. Will flipped her over so she was down on her back, her knees up so he could climb on top of her. Just as he was licking her lips with his tongue, Rachel suddenly didn't feel right. Not that the kiss was wrong or making her feel weird but...something certainly didn't feel right. Something felt like..something like a pencil or a pen was digging into her, like that time she wore a blazer to school and one of her pens got stuck and dug into her rib. It didn't hurt, but it just felt uncomfortable. It was stabbing her and she didn't like it. Then, her eyes widened as she stopped being so naïve and realised what it was. She closed her mouth and clenched her teeth together. Will stopped his kisses and pushed himself up. Still hovering over her he looked down at her with confusion and worry.

"Are you all right butterfly?" He asked, trying to catch is breath. Rachel frowned and shook her head. "Wa..Was I moving too fast? Oh God, Rach! I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I got a little carried away-" "Yeah you did!" Rachel tried to laugh, but she sat up causing Will to sit beside her.  
>"I'm sorry Rachel. I won't climb on top of you again I promise." Rachel shook her head. "What?"<p>

"It's not that." She said quietly, blushing. Will continued to look at her puzzled. "It's..It's your..um." She didn't know how to say it, so instead she resulted to the ways of when she was a child. She turned her flushed face away and pointed. "My what?" Will asked, following to where her finger was pointing: right at his bulge.

Will felt himself blush wildly. "Oh God." He gasped, grabbing a pillow and covering himself up. "Oh God Rachel, I'm so sorry! I...I didn't even...It doesn't mean that I..Oh God!" Rachel began giggling at his embarrassment. "It's okay Will. It's just," she had her bottom lip between her teeth to stop her laughing fully. "I..I've never seen one before." She admitted, shyly.

"What? An erection?"

"Yeah." She blushed brighter, turning away once again.

"It's okay Rachel." Will told her, although not quite sure how it was okay.  
>"I mean..I'm not that naïve I know what one is. It shows you're sexually aroused but Will," she looked back at him, meeting his eyes, "I..I'm not ready. I'm sorry I'm just not ready to take that-"<p>

"It's okay Rachel." Will told her, holding her hand. "I'm not asking you to. I told you, I'm not going to pressure you into doing anything and having sex is part of that contract."

"Really?"

"Yes really!" Will laughed. "Look, if you want to keep making out, we can I'll just keep the pillow over me? How's that?"

"You'd do that?"

"Yes of course. I'd do anything for you Rach. Anything." His voice was soft and he stroked little circles on the back of her hand to relax her. She smiled at him, kissing his lips quickly. "Thank you."

Now, standing in Will's room, she was kissing him like she had done that day, only this time it meant so much more. She wasn't doing it because she was horny or because she needed to after having an erotic dream. She was doing it because it felt right, and her heart swelled with so much love that it was the only way she could express that love to him.

The kiss was slow but soon turned rough and heated making all the worries and doubts leave Will's head. Will had leaned back on the bed and pulled Rachel on top of him barely breaking contact. Will then moved his lips from hers and started to kiss her neck. Rachel moaned in pleasure and didn't even notice when Will had flipped them over so that he could be on top so he could have more access.

Will and Rachel looked at each other one last time and then Will had taken her by the hand and walked her to the bed. They sat on the edge and at first just held each others faces, staring into their eyes. Rachel had been the first to move; she brought her lips slowly to Will's and kissed him softly. He pulled away but before Rachel could protest, he began to kiss her face; her eyes, her nose, cheeks, forehead and then finally back to her lips. Rachel's eyes were still closed as she felt him wrap his arms around her, take her dresses zip in his fingers and pulled it down. Rachel took it as her cue to begin unbuttoning his shirt, opening it up, pushing it to his shoulders and rolling it down his arms. Rachel wriggled out of her dress; now she was left in her black bra, her tights covering her legs and bottom.

Will began to move them up the bed. He kissed her exposed skin; sucking, licking and biting making sure that he left his mark on her. Rachel was moaning in pleasure and was surprised at how good it felt. She noticed that Will was enjoying this new contact as well; like before she could feel his length growing and pressing into her. Only now she wasn't scared; she was nervous but she definitely wasn't scared.

Rachel kissed him back as she dragged his face back to hers. Running her fingers through his curls and then let go to allow him to continue kissing her chest. Will trailed hot, open-mouthed kisses down her neck, eliciting soft moans from the girl beneath. She decided to him some attention. Taking a quick breath of faith she reached her hand down to the waist band of his black trousers and gently moved to his belt, undoing it and then threading it out of the straps. She found the button and the zip, releasing him and his moans of pleasure. He breathed against her and brought his face back to her.

"God Rach, you are so beautiful," he grunted before he slammed his lips back to hers gently, wanting to always be careful with her. "You don't look so bad yourself," she said with a smirk on her face as pushed his face off her for a second. They smiled at each other, feeling each other's torsos rising and falling against each other. Will winked at her and proceeded back to kiss every inch of free skin he could find. They were both moaning in pleasure at the contact and friction between them. Both were hot and starting to sweat.

Will couldn't take more of this. He needed to be inside of Rachel, but he would have to wait until Rachel told him again. He wasn't going to take any chances. A girl only got her first time once and he had to make it special and worthwhile. He felt her hands leave his pants and she tried to pull her tights down. Will lifted his head up off Rachel's chest – he had been kissing in between her breasts – and now looked at her once more.

"Are you sure Rachel?" he asked. "We don't have to continue this if you don't want to," Will said to her., giving her one last chance to stop. "I want to," Rachel said with a pause. "I really want to." Rachel smiled at him and lent up to kiss him, cupping is cheeks in her hands once more. "I'm ready, Will. Make love to me?" she asked. He smiled at her, loving how she didn't call it sex, but calling their act of love just that: love making. He lent down and gave her a slow but passionate kiss as he moved his hand to unhook her bra. Once he unhooked it, he tossed it onto the floor while he then stared at his beautiful butterfly in front of him."You are amazing Rach," he said while kissing her neck again. "I love you and care about you so much," he added before taking her erect nipple in his mouth; "Tú eres mi preciosa mariposa."

Will took hold of Rachel's tights and pulled them off, creating a gasp from Rachel as she felt a wave of cold air rush through her, while he kicked off his trousers to the floor. He was left only in his boxers and she was left in her panties. Will, being the gentleman. gave her one more quick look to make sure that this was what she wanted before he slipped her panties off and she pulled his boxers off.

They were naked now. Completely and utterly naked. And hot. And sweaty. Rachel was wet and Will was hard. There really was no going back now. And Rachel wouldn't have it any other way.

Will went back to kissing her; she ran her hands on and over him, staring from his toned stomach to his back, dragging her nails. Will had taken the requested condom out of his pants pocket before they were kicked to floor and began ripping it open and sliding it onto himself.

He positioned himself at her entrance. Now or never.

"Rachel, I want you to tell me when you are comfortable so I don't hurt you as much okay?" he said. She nodded her head, knowing it was going to hurt. "Just, be gentle with me." She asked and Will smiled down her. "Always gentle, Rachel. Forever gentle. I'll never hurt you. Siempre amable, Rachel. Siempre suave. Nunca voy a hacerte daño." He whispered as he slowly pushed in.

He heard her gasp and he repeated himself, trying to make her relax. "Siempre amable, Rachel. Siempre suave. Nunca voy a hacerte daño."

Once he was all the way in, he waited for her to say that he could continue. She had been trying to hold back the tears; having read up on the subject she knew it would hurt she just didn't think it would hurt like it did. It stung and felt like it burned a little. But after a little while, she got used to it and she kissed him to let him no she was comfortable.

Will slowly pulled out and back in a couple of times so Rachel could get the feel of it. She let out short gasps but they soon turned to moans of pleasure. Soon she was meeting Will with her hips feeling even more pleasure. He started to quicken his pace which caused both of them to moan in pleasure.

The sound of fireworks declared new things; the new year and both Rachel and Will's orgasms.

"Happy New Year!" Rachel cried, bucking into Will.

"Well I've never heard anyone scream that out as someone orgasms!"

"It just seemed appropriate." Rachel smiled, as she panted.

"Well then, happy new year." Will said, as he lowered his face and kissed her once again.

They were both panting and dripping with sweat. He returned to bed with a smile on his face. He leaned over to Rachel who was still trying to catch her breath and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips.

"That was amazing," Rachel said to him. "I'm glad that you were my first time," she added.

"I agree," was all Will could say. "I'm happy to know that I didn't disappoint you. I'm honoured to be your first," he said. She leaned her head onto his chest."I love you Will," Rachel said.

"I love you too, Rachel."

They both lay in silence as they let their minds process what had happened. Will held Rachel close to him as they both drifted off into a deep sleep.


	7. Ultimatum

**Chapter Six**

**Ultimatum**

It had been the best New Years Eve of both of their lives.

Rachel had felt loved and warm and appreciated.

Will felt like he was a teenager again where everything was happy and carefree in the world.

It was just such a shame that the high Will was feeling had to end as soon as entered the school. He went to the teachers' lounge and began pouring himself a cup of coffee. Sue walked up to him; just assuming she would walk straight past him, say something about his hair and continue on her way. However, she didn't. She stopped and stood close to him, pouring her own cup of coffee.

"Happy New Year William." She greeted him. This caused Will to frown in confusion. He didn't call her Wilma or Wendy or Wanda or any other female equivalent of his name. Instead, she was actually nice to him. "Er...Happy New Year Sue." He replied, go back to his mug and string some milk into it. He caught her off guard again by asking, "How was your Christmas break?" She now looked at him, looking at him without malice or hate or...she didn't look like Sue at all! It scared him a little bit."Er...good, thank you. How was-" He was cut off by the sound of Sue placing her mug down on the counter with a rather harsh force. "All right I thought I could do this but I can't." She spun around and rested her elbows on the counter. "Do what?" Will asked, intrigued to know what was wrong. "Pretend to be interested in your life, when in actual fact I am interested."

"What?" Will was shocked now. "Really?" He asked disbelieving.

"Yes. Only there is only one part of your life I am interested in."

Now sunk in. She was after something. Of course she was; Sue Sylvester was only ever nice if she wanted something. Or wanted to destroy something. "Let me guess, is it Glee Club?"

"Normally I would have to give in and confirm you are correct however I hate to inform you but you are only partially correct."

"I'm confused." Will frowned at her, and then raised an eyebrow at her.

"Well you must be if you're going to go around sleeping with girls who are nearly half your own age."

"What?" Will nearly spluttered his coffee out at her. His eyes bulged and he coughed and spluttered at what she had just said. He put his own mug down, praying that no one else had heard what Sue had said. She simply rolled her eyes; "Oh don't sound so surprised William-"

"Sue," Will faced her again and lowered his voice, "what are you talking about?" Sue leaned into him and lowered her own voice, trying to sound sinister. And it worked. "Step into my office. I don't think you'll be comfortable talking about this in front of your fellow colleagues."

Sue walked out of the teachers' lounge, leaving a dumbstruck Will to follow her. Her strides were long and wide and he had to practically run after her to keep up.

Once they arrived he walked into her office and closed the door behind him. She was resting against her desk and had her arms folded across her chest. Her eyes burned into him.

"Sue what are you-"

"Let's just cut to the chase shall we, I know."

"You know?" Will asked a little sketchily, unsure if she was just bluffing.

"About you and Rachel Berry hooking up and doing the dirty in the choir room at the Winter Wonderland Dance."

"What?" He tried to laugh, but knowing he had been caught. "That's...outrageous that's not true!"

"I had a feeling you'd say that, trying to hide and deny your infidelities, so I took the liberty of filming on my nifty little camera phone exactly what I saw and heard." She pulled her phone out of her pocket and rested her thumb on the play button of the recording; clearly she had been preparing for this moment."You were spying on me?" He accused, trying to side track their conversation."And a good thing too otherwise who knows what might have happened."

"I didn't sleep with Rachel at the dance!" He hissed as he virtually jumped over to her.

"But you have slept with her." Sue said. Not asked, told him.

"No!" Will denied, but knew he couldn't look her in the eye.  
>"Maybe not at the dance but at some point over the Christmas and New Year break, am I correct?"<p>

Will knew he was caught out. He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't. "I..I-"

"I take it by your hesitation and that growing blush on your next that you are not willing to deny it, however you also don't want to confirm although you want nothing more than to scream from the roof tops that you took a sweet little girl's virginity-"

"She's not a little girl, she's a woman." Will defended fiercely, internally smacking himself, knowing that he more or less just admitted to Sue's previous question (statement). Sue smirked a little, knowing she had him right where she wanted him. "Now she is, and by that little outburst it just confirms to me what I suspected was true all along;" She stepped away from her place and walked up to Will, standing as close to him as possible to intimidate him. She spoke low and slowly so that she could make him feel as much guilt as he possibly could. "You've been having a relationship with one Miss Rachel Berry, your student. A relationship that is to be seen as illegal in most if not all of our states, is that correct?"

He tried to keep her gaze; he had to. It was a matter of pride. He couldn't let Sue know she was correct. He just had to keep looking at her and try to make her stand down. Of course, he knew that was never going to happen. She was Sue Sylvester if there was one thing she was good at, it was staring people down.

Sighing in defeat Will ran his hand through his hair and sat in one of the seats in front of her desk. He slumped down a little and tried to fix his thoughts and calming his thundering heart. "What do you want Sue?" He asked, regretting he asked, knowing she wasn't going to let his secret go lightly. Or at all. Sue walked back round to her desk and sat in her chair facing him, propping her closed, fisted hands on the desk in front of her. She stared down on him like he was a freshmen Cheerio.

"I want to hear you beg and grovel and plead down on your knees for me not to expose you to Principle Figgins and to the world media."

"You wouldn't." He asked, trying to sound like the hero in a movie, but knew it came out sounding terrified and pleading. "Oh I would. Just remember Will, I have connections. Powerful connections." Will was aware he had to give into her demands and start begging, pleading with her to keep their secret a secret. "I'll do anything Sue," he felt sick as he stood and leaned over the desk to further beg for his life. Not just his life, but Rachel's life too. If this secret got out it could destroy her chances of getting into university. "Just please don't hurt Rachel by telling Figgins-"

"First, I want you to tell me the extent of your relationship."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't want to know intimate details, after all I have just had breakfast, I want to know how deep your feelings run for the girl. If you have any of course. If it's just a fling or if there's something there. And, judging by the fact you can't meet my eye right now, I'm going to take a wild yet positively correct guess that it is the latter, and that you in fact have fallen in love with said Miss Berry."

"What's your point Sue?" Will asked, sitting back down again as he saw Sue match his height and glare into his eyes. "I want to hear you say it. I want to hear you confess your love of Rachel Berry."

"Fine. I love her, okay. I love her."

"How much?"

"How much?" Will was shouting now but he didn't care. He had gone from being scared to begging to now ferosciously angry and he didn't give a care about it. "How much- to the point of where I would sacrifice my teaching career for her."

"Why would you say that?"

"Because there is no doubt now that you are going to effectively ruin my career by telling Principle Figgins everything."

"On the contrary, William, I will actually let you have your little relationship and allow your love to blossom further."

"You will?"

"I will."

Will continued to scowl at her, knowing she wasn't finished. No way in hell would Sue allow him to live a happy life. He got away from her desk and moved slightly. "Why? What's in it for you?" He scrunched his eyes and glared at her. Folding her arms across her chest and standing again, Sue narrowed her own eyes and stepped in front of her desk, resting on it once again. "Well, I actually have a little ultimatum for you William."

"Of course you do." Will scoffed. "You were never going to let me go alive were you?"

"Absolutely not. For three years now I have been trying to destroy that Glee Club of yours and now I finally have a chance."

"What do you want Sue?" He sighed, knowing he had to hear her out.

"Either; break up the Glee Club, resulting in shattering the hearts and souls of your twelve students or, break up your relationship with Rachel Berry and only shatter two hearts."

"You're a bitch you know that Sue." He growled.

"I have been told."

"How long do I have to think about it?"

"Twenty four hours."

"Fine. I'll talk to Rachel." He sighed quietly and moved to her door.

"You're really going to include her in this?"

"She deserves to know!" He called to her as he opened the door.

"Wow, you really must love her." Will looked back at her, a tear falling from his eye as he whispered strongly; "Of course I do."


	8. For the Sake of the Club

**Chapter Seven**

**For The Sake Of The Club**

Will was shaking.

He had been ever since Sue told him of his predicament. It was the second day of the new school year, and already he was wishing it was summer.

The day previous had been torturous. Rachel had smiled at him and waved her delicate fingers at him like nothing had happened. Of course, he smiled and waved back but he couldn't help feel guilty. He was going to ruin so many kids dreams and source of fun within the school. He had to tell Rachel, she had to be a part of it. It would have been easier to do it alone, but he knew that she would be really mad at him if he did it without her.

"Rachel, could I see you for a moment?" He asked her when he saw her by her locker at lunch. Luckily it wasn't crowded, as everyone had gone to the cafeteria. The ovens had broken due to a prank by the hockey team, to try and get some more status within the school, and so they had to resort to phoning in for pizza. Of course, the kids went crazy and the cafeteria was more hectic and chaotic than usual. For once, Will was so glad that Rachel was a vegan and therefore only ate vegan pizza.

She smiled at him, flicking her hair behind her shoulder. "Certainly Mr Shuester." Without bothering to check if anyone was looking, he took hold of her hand and ushered her out of the hall and into the choir room. "So this is a Will moment then?" She giggled nervously; he'd never held her hand in school before for fear of being found out and now he had dragged her into his office. He dropped her hand and shuffled over to his desk, taking a deep breath.

"Rachel we need to talk." He hated the way the words fell out of his mouth and, although he couldn't see her as he had his back facing her, he knew how she looked; scared, anxious, petrified. "Wh..what about?" She stuttered, holding her hands together to stop them from shaking. A horrible feeling cast itself over her. Her heart rate pick up and she was afraid that Will was going to break up with her.

Maybe it was never real? Maybe he was just trying to get something from me. Maybe it was a dare, maybe he was just having a mid-life crisis, even though he was only in his early thirties.

She stepped closer to him. "Will you're scaring me-"

"Rachel, Sue knows." Will spun around and cut her off before she could speak any more.

"What?" It came out no more than a shocked, scared whisper.

"Sue knows about us." Will told her, holding her arms to keep her from shaking or falling – something he imagined she would do. "How?" She asked in the same way as before. Will shrugged and shook his head, but deciding he had to tell her the truth."She saw us slow dancing together."

"Oh my God." Rachel felt a lump form in her throat; her fears were coming true.

Everything she knew could happen was going to happen: Will was going to be thrown in prison and she was going to be even more of an outcast than before. "This is it. She's going to ruin us! She's going to destroy everything we have we each other!"

"Rachel; listen to me, listen to me." Will slid his hands up her arms and rested them on her shoulders, gripping them tightly but still so they wouldn't hurt her. "She is not going to destroy us."

"Yes she will!" Rachel shrieked. "This is just what she needs to fulfil her illogical revenge on you-"

"Rachel she will not destroy us because I won't let her."

"How, Will? She has power! She's like some super villain. She's indestructible."

"And so is our love." Will tried to calm her down, he took one of his hands off her shoulders and dragged it down her back, resting on the small of her back and rubbed it soothingly. He stared into her eyes, not blinking for one second. He spoke calmly and softly, trying to get her believe him. "The love I have for you is invincible. She, nor anybody else, can take away what we feel for each other."

The young brunette stared into his eyes; confused why they weren't filled with fear like hers. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but she couldn't. She felt tears pushing to the front of her eyes. "How can you be so sure?" Her voice finally cracked, and a tiny tear trickled out of her eye. She took a shaky breath and shook her head, biting her lower lip. Will sighed and closed his eyes; he had to tell her. Not looking at her, staring at the bunny on her sweater he told her the truth. "Because she gave me a choice." He sighed quietly.

"A choice?" Rachel's voice was now a whisper, still refusing to somehow let go of her lip.

"An ultimatum." He swallowed thickly, feeling his own eyes fill with tears.

"Oh God." Rachel bent her head; feeling like it was the end of the world and everything was collapsing around her; no light or hope was apparent. Will opened his eyes, he'd closed them as he tried to think of how to tell her the next part. It was crucial he told her before the lunch break was up, otherwise he wouldn't be responsible for his actions if Rachel got into trouble for being late to her class, after keeping her with him for longer. He sighed once again and squeezed her shoulder to get her to look at him. He had to tell her eyes, not the top of her head.

"Rachel, she told me that the only way she would keep quiet – resulting in us being together – is if I fulfilled one of the two options."

"What are they?" Rachel asked quickly, her eyes widening with hope.

"Either, I break up with you-"

"Will!" She cried; her bravery being shattered instantly.

"Or, I stop Glee Club."  
>"Will you can't." Rachel shook her head and took hold of his arms. They were now in a locked position, neither wanting to release the other. "You can't stop Glee, we've come so far!"<p>

"And so have you and I!" Will raised his voice; he'd made up his mind: he wasn't going to loose her.

"But Will, no! I won't let you." She matched his voice, not wanting him to do something he cared about so much. He cared about her too, but he had worked so hard to create Glee, to keep it alive!

"You have to!" Will told her, moving his face closer to hers. "I will not break your heart, Rachel. I will not break my own heart either and if that means stopping Glee Club then I will." Rachel was about to protest, but Will took his hands off of hers and cupped her cheeks; forcing her to look at him. He was breathing quicker now, and what he had to say felt like his final speech.

Through his nose, he breathed in deeply and swallowed his tears, not wanting to cry in front of her. He spoke softly, but with serious force so she understood him. "I want to hold you in my arms forever, kiss your lips forever and wake up next to you seeing your face smiling up at me. And, as selfish as it may seem, if it means that I have to stop Glee Club, then I will."

"I want all of that too Will. I do. I honestly do;" She cupped his own cheek with her hand, her heart fluttering as she felt him lean into it slightly. The tears were shining in her eyes, but she tried to fight them off. Now was not the time for her girlish tears. She had to make him see what she was saying was right and necessary. "Just thinking about not being with you makes my shatter but..."

"No buts Rachel, I've made up my mind." Will shouted, sending a few tears to flow down Rachel's rosy cheeks. He sighed and wiped them away with his thumbs. "I'll tell the guys tomorrow." He told her, sounding as defeated as he felt and looked.

He took his hands away from her face and moved away from her; standing against his desk with his hands propping him up. His head was bent and he tried to control his breathing. Rachel watched him and frowned, shaking her head she walked up to him. "No Will." She whispered strongly. She now made her voice sound powerful. "Although our two hearts will be broken, and our eyes will be full to the brim with never ending tears, our dreams haunting us with what we had; it'll be better than shattering the dreams of eleven other people." Even though she tried to remain strong, her voice cracked and she was dropping tears again by the end of her little speech. "Rachel please don't-" Will begged, turning around, surprised that she was so close to him.

"Will, I couldn't live with myself knowing that I've hurt those eleven people by taking away something so important to them-"

"But you're important to me!" Will pleaded again, now lunging at her and taking her shoulders in his hands again. "And it wouldn't just be you hurting them. It would be my fault-"

"It would be both our faults, Will." She mirrored his position, dragging him down a little as she stood on her tiptoes to reach him. "Please. We have to do this, for the sake of everyone else."

Closing his eyes once more, he knew she was right. He sighed and squeezed his eyes tightly closed. "For our sake in the end." Whispering he opened his eyes, to see Rachel trying not to cry.

"Exactly." She whispered. Will exhaled heavily and cupped her cheek, brushing his thumb against her soft skin. "You're so selfless and beautiful you know that?"

"So are you." She gave him a small smile, even though it pained her with what they had to do.

"So it's agreed," she nodded her head, "For the sake of the team we will..end this now?" She asked, trying not sniffle. Will nodded his head in affirmation. "For the sake of the club."

"I hear by pronounce us, teacher and student one again."

Allowing the last tear to drop, Will brought Rachel close to is body for one last time. He felt her strong little arms wrap around his waist, feeling her tears dampen his shirt and sniffle into his chest. As much as he wanted to, he didn't allow himself to kiss the top of her head. Instead he took his arms away from her, gently pushed her away and stepped back.

"You'd better go." His voice was now almost back to normal; still a little husky from all of his tears he had shed, but now he was trying regain his composure. He held his posture in a rigid stance; hands by his sides and trying to keep his head up. Trying to give off the impression of a smart, accomplished, proud solider whereas in reality he felt like a coward, giving into the demands of Sue Sylvester.

Rachel sniffled and wiped her red eyes, nodding her head. She turned around, cursing herself as she turned her head back over her shoulder to give herself one last glance. "I'll always love you Will." She told him quietly, closing her eyes and squeezing one last tear out, opening the door and leaving his office.

As soon as the door closed, Will couldn't help himself but let out a shuddering breath and scrunched his face up in his hands as he screamed into them. Fresh, hot, heavy tears streaming from his eyes. His face was red and he felt his hands dampen with his tears. He moved them away from his face and stared at the droplets that hadn't evaporated yet. Once they had, he clenched his hands into strong fists and growl as he threw everything off his desk in his fit of anger.

His breaths were heavy and laboured. He enjoyed listening to the sound of the clatter. It soothed him for some odd reason. He went to tip his entire desk over, but he noticed something. One of the draws had opened due to the force of him throwing everything, and staring up at him was a picture.

His secret picture. He bent down slightly and picked up the framed photograph. It was him and Rachel. It on one of the hot days in the summer and someone had wandered to their fountain with their dog. Will had his arms wrapped around Rachel as she sat in between his legs, as he leaned against the cool marble of the fountain. He kissed her temple and told her something that made her giggle. The man came and his dog rushed over to them, jumping into Rachel's lap and licking her face; causing the both of them to laugh. Once dog had calmed down, he ran back to his master and Will took out his camera from his back pack. Asking the man to take the photograph, Rachel beamed up at him and put her hand on his cheek, bring his lips down to kiss him. The man had pressed the shutter and thought it was beautiful vision of 'young love'. Will thought so too, and had put the photograph in his wallet to look at whenever he was waiting to pay for something or was stuck in traffic, or just missing her. The man had taken another photograph however, and this was the one that was framed. Will has holding Rachel protectively with his arms around her stomach and Rachel rested her head against his shoulder, looking up at him. Will was smiling down at her, and both of them agreed that this was the photograph that defied love.

Will's vision was now blurry from his tears, and his finger ran over Rachel's beautiful face even as a tear slipped away from his chin and landed on the photograph. He put it down on the desk, caressing the frame and then went back to sobbing in his hands.

"I see you told her then." Will shaken, out of his screaming and fighting fit, by the sound of the woman he hated more than anything in the world. He lifted his face out of his cage and glared at her with all of the hate and loathing he could show her. His breathing was shallow and harsh, his eye twitched with anger and he could feel his head pumping.

"Get out." He growled, it was quiet and almost like a whisper, but it was powerful. Sue just stood in the door way, closing it as she came into his private space more and folded her arms. "Oh come on now William, no need to be like that-"

"I said get out!" He snarled a little louder, clenching his fists together ready to punch her when the opportunity arose. Sue just smile at him, sighing a little. "Come on Will. It can't be that hard to break up with a girl. She's a stupid little girl, she'll get over it in a few days. In fact I won't be surprised if she's sucking the face off that dumb Finn soon and forgetting all about you-"

"Don't talk about her like that!" He bellowed, picking his swivel chair up and throwing it across the room. He stomped over to her, keeping a slight gap between them, but pointing a shaking finger at her. "She is not a little girl, Sue. And she is not stupid! She is smart and funny and beautiful and-"

"And a student, Will! Need I remind you of how inappropriate your little fling with her is. Well, was."

Will couldn't stop himself as he threw his fist down onto the desk.

"I loved her, Sue! I still love her! And she-"

"Oh please, love? Will, she's eighteen years old. You're how old? Thirty one? Thirty two? Almost thirty three? She's still a kid, William. A kid that will be graduating from here soon to go off to New York and continuing studying and make a life for herself."

"I'm going to be in that life. In her life." He felt so sure about that and he fisted his hand once again, as if the action made it true, even though he really had no idea. Although he would never admit it, especially to Sue. The woman simply rolled her eyes at him once again and scoffed.

"Oh yeah? Doing what exactly? You're a teacher, Will. Her teacher!"

"Not for long. Graduation is only a few months away and-"

"And she will forget all about you Will, just like you will soon enough."

"I will never forget her." He answered, his voice serious and calm.

Sue walked over to his toppled over chair, picking it up and sitting on it. "Will let me ask you something," she crossed her legs and put her arms on the chair's arms. "You say you want to be in her life when she leaves here, right?" She raised an eyebrow at him, asking the question wanting a reply. Will nodded his head and folded his arms. "Of course."

"So tell me, what kind of future do you see yourselves having?"

"I'm going to go to New York with her, I'm going marry her and I'm going to be the father of her children and-"

"Do you know how ridiculous you sound?" Sue laughed, uncrossing her legs and recrossing them.

"No, Sue I don't because as far as I can see none of what I just said or think or feel is ridiculous."

"Oh but Will it is!" She slammed her hands down on the chair's arms and leaned forward to make her point more poignant. "She's eighteen! Do you really think she's been thinking about marriage and babies and mortgages and bills and all the other crap grown ups have to deal with?"

"She's a lot more maturer than you think she is." Will told her, scowling at how cynical she was being.

Sue raised her eyebrow at him and leaned back in the chair. "Really? Because from what I can see, is she's a hyperactive, dreamy little eighteen year old girl who is enjoying pretending to be an adult for a little while and having a bit of fun, being with an older man. You know girls mature faster than boys; all of the guys here are jerks, Will. You know that, you teach them. They're stupid little boys who think breasts are just play things for them and kissing and making out is a fun way to pass time. But you're a man, Will. And as sick as it makes me feel, you have experience and therefore know how to satisfy a woman and make her feel things, no doubt you've been making Miss Berry feel some things too."

She internally smiled as she saw Will blush, no doubt thinking of all of the the sexual things they had been up to. Of course she didn't want to picture the two of them together like that; she didn't want to picture them together full stop.

With a heavy sigh she got out of the chair and walked over to Will. She slammed her hand on his shoulder and spoke to him softly. "She's a kid, Will, playing house. It was never going to last."

Will tried to calm his breathing once again. He'd listened to everything she had to say. A lot of it made sense; the parts about Rachel being a dreamy girl and the boys at the school being jerks. He thought of all the things he made Rachel feel and how she made him feel. He loved being with her, he ached when she wasn't near by. He loved being with her, not just being in a sexual way but just talking to her, holding her hand whilst they watched a movie or smiling at her when she answered at question correctly. Feeling his heart do somersaults when she sang.

Opening his eyes he stared into the cold eyes of Sue Sylvester. Removing her hand from his shoulder, he stood up and moved away, rolled his neck, cracking it and sighing as he faced her. Sticking his hands into his pockets he pursed lips. "You're wrong, Sue. It will last. What we have, what we share and feel for each other it will last. And you will be proven wrong."

Sue stared at him, her teeth clenching. Her eyes narrowed at him and she marched over to him. "I am never wrong William. You know that." She spat in his face and then walked out of the wrecked room.

Will released a breath, this time not as shaky and then proceeded to clear up the mess he had made after his break up with Rachel. He would fight for her. It really was only a few more months until graduation. June. He would have to wait until the end of June, and then it wouldn't be illegal. Then he could take he by the hand and kiss her in front of everyone. Then they would deal with the looks and prejudices they would face. Together. He longed for the day where he could finally walk around the town with her on his arm and smile proudly, announcing to everyone that she was his and no one could deny them of their love.

There were only two things that worried him though. Well, they weren't exactly 'things' par say. They were in fact two men; one a little bit taller than Rachel and the other who was a little bit taller than him. Where he wasn't as scared as the shorter man, he was terrified by the taller, darker man. Rachel's parents. Not to mention Shelby, when the time came of course. After all, he had made out with her once. He shuddered at the memory; Rachel was nothing like her in that department: she was soft and gentle and sweet and made the most beautiful, peaceful sounds when she moaned and sucked on his lips. Still, as much as he didn't want to think about it, the day would come where they would have to confront the two Berry men about their relationship. And, a part of him wished it would come later rather than sooner.

Glee had come around and Will was not looking forward to it. Instead of telling the guys that the club was no longer happening, he instead had to see their happy faces and tell them about the new assignments – he didn't have any, so would just allow them to sing whatever the wanted until he got his head together. As well as seeing their smiling faces, he also had no doubt see Rachel's heartbroken, tear stained face.

"Where's Rachel?" He asked, having walked into the room and not seen her sitting in her usual spot. Surely she would still come to Glee? It was her life! Well, it was her life before he came into it. They may not be able to be together romantically, but at least he could still see her – and possibly touch her – in Glee Club.

Brittany raised her hand to speak. "She was in the bathroom during fifth period crying." She said, still in her happy voice as Santana nuzzled at her neck. Will sighed and ran his hand through his hair and continued to look at Brittany. "That was after lunch, have you seen her since?" Brittany shrugged, "I'm not in any of her classes after lunch on Tuesdays. It sucks because she's really smart and helps me in math by trying to give me the answers without actually giving them to me." She then smiled seductively at Santana as she then leaned in to give her a kiss on her ear and whisper something to her, which made the Latina bite her lip, rolling her eyes to back her head and grip onto the blonde's hand harder and tighter.

Will smiled at Brittany's words; she was right in saying that Rachel was smart. She was smarter than him. Of course she was right by saying that it was a lot better if they broke up in stead of breaking up the band of misfits he saw before him. Really he couldn't have done that to them. Never in a million years did he think a football player and an ex stuttering Goth be dating, that a rapping kind of nerdy boy in a wheelchair and bad-ass Mohawk Jewish boy be bumping fists together and talking, a diva boy would come out to the entire school and actually find someone else who loved him in same way and have another diva as a best friend. Of course, without Glee he could still see Finn and Quinn being together, but then again their relationship was made stronger because of Glee. He smiled at the accomplishments they had all made together and knew it was for the best that only two hearts got broken possibly beyond repair, than have eleven other hearts and dreams and friendships broken.

"Sorry I'm late!" The sound of Rachel's beautiful singsong yet sort of croaky voice sounded through the room brought him out of his little daydream. He rested his eyes upon her form as she scurried past him, like a timid little dormouse.

She was still beautiful, even with a broken heart. She sat in her usual spot, at the back on the top row of the bleachers. Her eyes were red and puffy, clearly she had been crying once again before coming into the room and he hair was a little bit messy, but apart from that she still glowed with beauty and radiated elegance. She would always be stunning, no matter what.

"Hey Rach what took you so long?" Finn asked, holding onto Quinn's hand soothingly.  
>"Yeah Hobbit, aren't you the like the first one hear usually because you have no other life and practically live here?" Santana giggled, a mixture between her words and things Brittany was doing with her tongue behind Santana's ear; something Will wanted to try with Rachel, but knew he wouldn't be able to. He glared at Santana quickly, and instructed for Brittany to stop whatever she was doing, causing an angry huff to come from both girls as they crossed their arms and legs simultaneously, linking their fingers together. "Well," Rachel cleared her throat, "I was just a little upset before and had to compose myself before coming in," her eyes flickered to Will for less than a nanosecond, before she plastered a huge – fake – grin across her beautiful, tear stained face and continued. "But enough of my personal problems! Let's start!" She clapped her hands and pretended to look at Will. Really, she just stared past him, hurting to much to look at him directly.<p>

"Glad you could join us Rachel." He told her softly, sending her a quick smile. She returned his smile and looked at him, forcing herself not to cry. "You're welcome," she paused before looking away to say his name that she had almost forgotten about; "Mr Shuester." Hearing her say his name like that; so defeated and deflated made his heart throb and cry. But he had to remain strong. She was right; it was better for everyone if they broke up. It was better if they all stuck together, instead of just themselves.

Still, just like the words of 'Coldplay'; nobody said it was easy. And this heartbreak was not going to be easy for either of them.

Harder for Rachel, more than Will.


	9. I Can't Live With Or Without You

**Chapter Eight **

**I Can't Live Without You**

It had been about four weeks since Will and Rachel broke up and the effects were starting to show.

Will would come into work looking dishevelled and tired, where Rachel would still try to keep up appearances but she would be quiet in class and in Glee. She simply moved from class to class like a cloud or shadow. Not wanting anyone to notice her. What really made a difference somehow, was that she was no longer being slushied. Or at least not at much.

February the fourteenth was fast approaching and every time Rachel looked at her calender, she sighed deeply and told herself that it was just another day in the year. It was nothing special.

Glee Club came around and Rachel once again couldn't look at Will. That is, until he started talking about the assignment.

"All right guys," he cleared his throat as if he didn't care if they heard him or not, "with the holiday coming up I thought it would be nice if we all sang love songs." The room was full of cheers and giggles; Brittany was practically sat in Santana's lap kissing and sucking her neck, which Will growled at internally.

Why should they get to share their love? He felt jealous of the teenagers. All of them. Not just Brittany and Santana. All of them had their own love in one way or another, even Artie and Puck were deciding that they were going to sing songs about being happy bachelors. Kurt and Blaine were talking about singing; 'Baby It's Cold Outside' as they had sung it before and they loved it. Will was amazed how much the school had turned around. In his club he had two openly gay kids and two sort of open gay kids. Almost a year ago, this wouldn't have happened. Sure, Kurt and Blaine still got kicked and pushed around, but Santana and Brittany weren't. Why couldn't he and Rachel be like that? In fact, why couldn't they have a mixture of the two scenarios? The could be made fun of and bullied, but still hold their heads up high with the people who accepted them?

"Mr Shuester?" His attention was brought back to the club, more importantly it was brought to Rachel, who had her hand up in the air. "Yes Rachel?" He said, trying to soften his voice. She stood up and made her way to him. "I have a song in mind, please may I sing it?" She gazed into his eyes and saw that there were already tears forming. Instead of speaking, he nodded his head and went to sit down, resisting the urge to touch her shoulder in a good luck kind of way.

Rachel looked out to her audience after tell the band what song she was singing. She didn't need an introduction, she just needed to sing;

"_One foot on the bus. Bout half past nine. I knew that you were leaving this time. I thought about laying down in its path. Thinking that you might get off for that_

_I remember that night we laid in bed. Naming all our kids that we hadn't had yet. One for your grandma and one for mine. Said we'd draw straws when it came time_

_I'll move on baby just like you. When the desert floods and the grass turns blue. When a sailing ship don't need her moon. It'll break my heart but I'll get through. Someday when I stop loving you_

_I bet all I had on a thing called love. Guess in the end it wasn't enough. And it's hard to watch you leave right now. I'm gonna have to let you go somehow. Somehow_

_I'll move on baby just like you. When the desert floods and the grass turns blue. When a sailing ship don't need her moon. It'll break my heart but I'll get through. Someday when I stop loving you. Oooh.. oh someday.. oh someday_

_I'll move on baby just like you. When the desert floods and the grass turns blue. When a sailing ship don't need her moon. It'll break my heart but I'll get through. Someday when I stop loving you" _

The song finished with her wiping her eyes and staring at the floor. She couldn't bring herself to look at Will, although she could feel him looking intensely at her. His cheeks had flushed and his stomach felt heavy; he knew the song was about and for him. The only way he could show he felt the same way was by playing at her own game.

The next Glee meeting was on Friday, due to the choir room being redecorated and cancelled by Principle Figgins; although Will was sure it had something to do with Sue as when they came back, it looked like it hadn't been touched. Will walked into the room, handing the band some music sheets. He turned to the kids, who was either making out or looking with each other with fiery passion in their eyes, instructing that they were soon going to be making out.

"Guys I hope you don't mind but I actually have a song I'd like to sing for you today." Puck started to groan, actually wanting him and Artie to perform together, to show all the love birds up. Just like Rachel had on the Monday. "Aw Mr Shue it's not going to be some piece of garbage that no one's ever heard before and you want us to find songs similar to it and them better are you?"

"Yeah like you did when you sang 'Ice Ice Baby'?" Finn joined in, holding Quinn closer to himself.

"No. I think you'll be happy with this choice. I assume you've all heard of a little band called; U2?"

"Us two what?" Brittany asked.

"No, U2." He clarified.

"Yeah, me and Santana what?" She smiled, sweetly but puzzled.

"Brit, the band is called U2." Santana said, giggling into her ear as she nuzzled her neck.

"Oh! Oh I get it."

"Good, so this song expresses how I feel. Recently I learned that there are things in life that are just too important to live without-"

"Like football!" Finn cheered.

"And sex!" Puck pounded his fist in the air.

"Er well...I was talking more about feelings."

"I don't know about you Mr Shue, but I feel a lot when I'm in the sack."

"You're disgusting Puck." Mercedes commented, turning her nose up at him.

"Whatever." The boy grumbled.

"Guys, I was talking about love." Will allowed his eyes to fall on Rachel. As soon as he mentioned love, he had her attention. "And unconditional, never ending love. I'm sure we can all relate to it."

"Sure." The class mumbled, and got ready to listen.

"Okay so, this is in my opinion U2's best song. 'With or Without You'."

"_See the stone set in your eyes. See the thorn twist in your side. I wait for you_

_Sleight of hand and twist of fate. On a bed of nails she makes me wait. And I wait without you_

_With or without you. With or without you_

_Through the storm we reach the shore. You give it all but I want more. And I'm waiting for you_

_With or without you. With or without you. I can't live. With or without you_

_And you give yourself away. And you give yourself away_

_And you give. And you give. And you give yourself away_

_My hands are tied. My body bruised, she's got me with. Nothing to win and nothing left to lose_

_And you give yourself away. And you give yourself away. And you give. And you give. And you give yourself away_

_With or without you. With or without you. I can't live. With or without you_

_With or without you. With or without you. I can't live. With or without you. With or without you"_

The kids clapped and whooped, enjoying his heart felt performance. The bell rang a little while later; after some of the others had performed their songs. Rachel didn't pay attention to any of them; she simply tried to keep her emotions in tact and not start crying in front of everyone.

Rachel shuffled over to him. He stood up and took his hands out of his pants pockets. She gave him a weak smile. "That was a nice song, Mr Shuester." She refrained from hugging him before she turned to leave. Will watched her, but darted for her. "Rachel wait," he took her hand and stopped her from leaving the room. She spun herself round to look at him. His mouth gaped open as if to say something but then he closed it. Deciding to just look at her. She sniffled and rose on her tiptoes, pushing herself up to him. She brought her lips to his ear, but bit down on her flesh and then detached herself from his hand. "Rachel I-" But before Will could talk to her she was gone.

He sighed and started clearing away after the kids.

Rachel had really wanted, needed to talk to Will. But after hearing his song, she just couldn't. It was her own fault really; if only she hadn't sung that song on the Monday! If only she'd sang a real romantic song, other than just telling Will that she would never get over him, assuming he had already. Anyone with eyes would see that he hadn't moved on. She saw the way he looked at her and how much he still pinned for her.

She was just being selfish. Just as long as she continued to keep to herself, then she would be fine. Of course, it wouldn't be long before she could not longer hide her secrete; from him or anyone else.

Quinn was just leaving the school, her Cherrio gym bag over one shoulder and her backpack on the other. She had to stay behind to talk to Coach Sylvester about how some of the juniors weren't putting in their worth and they had to devise a strategy for the next practise. It wasn't late, but it sure felt like it. The blonde popped her back and rolled her neck, sighing and moaning slightly at the release she felt.

She was walking down the steps, ready to go to her car – thinking about the warm shower she was going to have – when she saw Rachel sat on the steps. She stopped where she was and watched the girl. She was crying. Not a lot, but definitely either sobbing lightly or whimpering heavily. She wasn't sure which, but cursed herself as she knew she had to find out.

Sighing once again, she sat her things down and joined Rachel on the freezing cold concrete steps. She also saw that the girl was shivering too. "What's wrong Rachel?" She asked, as kindly as she could. The brunette stopped her crying and wiped her eyes Turning her red streaked, tear stained face she looked at Quinn. "What?" She sniffled, sounding like she had a cold. Quinn rolled her eyes and shifted herself a little closer to the small girl. "I asked what's wrong. I was going to ask if you were okay, but clearly you're not."

"I'm fine." Rachel said sadly, lowering her head. Quinn smirked and bumped shoulders with the little diva. "Yeah and I'm the Queen of England!" She tried to get Rachel to laugh, instead she just made the girl sniffle again. Their shoulders and upper arms remained close, and Quinn could feel the girl shaking next to her, not from her tear but from the cold. Without really thinking, Quinn unzipped her letterman jacket off and slipped it around the brunette's shoulders.

"What are you doing?" Rachel asked, trying to give the jacket back, but was met by Quinn putting her arms carefully inside the sleeves and then zipping it up. "I could ask you the same question Berry," she smiled, concentrating on making the girl warm. "I'm keeping you warm before you die of hypothermia; it's freezing out here! Where's your coat?" The blonde asked, now generally concerned. Rachel shrugged. "It got slushied so it's in my car." She answered without any emotion. Quinn licked her lips in thought and then brought her hands down onto Rachel's arms and began rubbing them, trying to generate some heat into the girl.

Rachel enjoyed the contact. It reminded her of when Will used to do it when they were in park after dark or in his apartment. She then noticed that the blonde had stopped and had now picked up her hand, squeezing the brunette's fingers and cupping her hands in hers to make her fingers and hands warm.

"Why are you doing this?" Rachel asked, facing the blonde for the second time since she had sat down. Quinn shrugged, continuing to concentrate on her task. "Believe it or not, I don't like to see you upset." Rachel scoffed. Quinn was right; she didn't believe it. "Besides, I figured if you were warmer then you would be more open to tell me what was wrong."

"Nothing is wrong." Rachel told her, although knowing the girl wouldn't believe her.

"Come on Rachel, tell me the truth." Quinn begged, almost, and began rubbing Rachel's arms again. "I am telling you the truth." She protested, leaning into the blonde a little.

"Come on Rachel. Just tell me."

"No." Rachel growled,getting angry now. Quinn stopped her movements and stood up. She placed her hands on her hips and stared down at the brunette. "Just spit it out Berry! I want to help you but can't if you won't-"

"I'm pregnant." Rachel sighed, closing her eyes, realising it was the first time she had said it out loud.

Quinn was stunned. At first she didn't think she had heard her right or that it was a joke. "What?" She asked, barely above a whisper. She felt her knees give way a little, but held herself up. Rachel groaned and pleaded with her; "Please don't make me say it again."

"Who the hell's the father?" Quinn asked loudly, almost shouting just just from the shock. The diva knew that she was going to ask that, but she couldn't tell Quinn. She couldn't tell anyone. She couldn't even tell Will. "I can't tell you." She whispered quietly, dragging her knees up to her lips.

"Why? Is it Finn?"

"No!" Rachel laughed, shaking her head, feeling a few tears spill.

"Is it Puck?"

"No!"

"Then why can't you tell me?"

"Because I can't, okay?" Rachel snapped her head up at the blonde and tried to glare at her. But, of course, Quinn was much better at it than her. "No. Not okay." Quinn then sat down next to Rachel again, thinking it would be better than standing. "Rachel, tell me who he is. Do I know him?" Quinn asked, not wanting to know for gossip purposes, but because she genuinely wanted to help.

After a little pause, Rachel sighed. As long as she didn't name him, then it would okay. Right?

"Yes." She nodded her head, her lips back to her knees. "But not like I do."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Quinn frowned. She then took Rachel's chin in her hand and brought her face to look at her. They stayed looking at each other for a little while; Rachel trying to figure out Quinn's motive, with Quinn trying to read the name of the mystery father. With a shaky sigh, Rachel dropped her eyes from Quinn's.

"Nothing. Look, please just don't tell anyone. I'll do anything, please Quinn I'm begging you."

"Okay." Quinn nodded, speaking quietly and softly.

"Okay?"Rachel was confused.

"Okay. I promise I won't tell anyone."

"But?" Rachel asked, rolling her eyes; thinking there must be an ultimatum. After all, everyone wanted something for something, didn't they? "But what?" Quinn asked, frowning and confused.

"You won't tell anyone but...?"

"No buts. I was put in a similar situation once, remember?" She found her hand rubbing Rachel's back, telling her it was for warmth purposes, but she knew it was because she was trying to show she cared. Rachel smiled, dropping her eyes to Quinn's other hand that was holding onto her own.

"Sure. I remember."

"Just...tell me something." Quinn asked quietly, not meeting Rachel's eyes.

"Go on."

"How? I mean..I thought you were going to wait?" She blushed a little, but still couldn't believe that Rachel had actually ha sex. As much as the girl annoyed her, she actually held a lot of respect for her; not wanting to lose her virginity at a record speed and actually thinking that there were more important things in life than that.

Rachel raised an eyebrow at Quinn. This coming from the ex-celibacy president? She smiled at her.

"You really want to know?" She asked, her voice dipping into a low, deep tone. Quinn nodded her head and then looked up into Rachel's eyes. "Yeah." She whispered. Rachel now took her other hand that had been resting on her skin exposed thigh, and picked up Quinn's chin, wanting to look into her beautiful eyes. "I fell in love." She admitted with a sweet, dream like smile. "Really in love and...I wanted to show him."

Quinn frowned at the response. "So as a way to prove your love to him, you gave him your virginity?"

"It wasn't like that but yes. He was sweet and gentle and-"

"Okay I don't want to hear the details." Quinn giggled, although she actually did.

"Sorry." Rachel blushed.

"Well...not right now anyway." Quinn smirked, trying to keep the friendliness going.

"What do you mean?"

Quinn sucked in some air through her nose and licked her lips in thought again. "Come over to my place, we'll talk there. Come in an hour, give me time to clean up a little"

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

"Thank you, that really means a lot."

"You're welcome. I just wish when I was pregnant, I was able to open up to people."

"We just have different personalities I guess." The brunette shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess so." She shrugged also and, biting her lip, began to walk away over to her car. However, she smirked to herself as she called over her shoulder to the brunette. "Bring your pyjamas."

"Why?" Rachel asked, standing up.

"Because I don't want you sleeping next to me naked!"

"Why would I-"

"Because you're sleeping over Berry!" With that, she was gone.

She walked down the steps and made her way to her own car, smiling and glad she may have found a friend in Miss Fabray.


	10. Downpour Proposals

**Chapter Nine**

**Downpour Proposals**

The pain was beginning to become too much.

It was February the thirteenth and the whole school was filled with puppy love fever.

February fourteenth; Valentines Day.

Will walked the halls, trying to get to his office, surrounded by loved up teenagers. He kept his eyes on the floor to stop himself from snapping at them all and giving them detentions for displaying too much public affection. He only looked up when he knew where he was.

The teacher knew he shouldn't have done what he did, but he couldn't help himself; he just loved her too much.

Rachel was at her locker, getting out her books. As she opened it, a little letter fell out. She didn't think anything of it; it must have just been from a teacher and she had forgotten to put it in her backpack. She sighed and picked it up. Frowning when she saw the name. Well, the handwriting and the language anyway considering there wasn't a name as such;

"_A mi pequeña mariposa preciosa..._"

At the end of the ellipsis, there was a sticker of a butterfly. She knew instantly who is was from and her eyes filled with tears. She sniffled turning to face her locker and smiling a quick smile. Her little hands ripped open the envelope, carefully of course, and took out the letter. It was a lot sweeter and more romantic than a card, and she loved it instantly.

"_Rachel, my very own Madame Butterfly, La señorita mariposa; _

_I know I shouldn't be writing this letter. I know that it goes against everything we told each other. We're teacher and student now, and teachers aren't supposed to be sending their students Valentines Day letters. But Rachel, mi hermosa, I love you. I will always love you. My heart and soul is in pain because of the choice we made and I count down the days to when you graduate and you can finally be mine and we no longer need to hide ourselves away. _

_Mi corazón te pertenece a ti, forever and always. _

_Will x" _

The tears didn't flow as freely as she thought they would. In fact she only manage to cry a few, they landed on the paper like raindrops and she quickly wiped them away to stop them from smudging Will's words.

"Happy Valentines Day, Rachel." She jumped when she heard his voice. She composed herself and looked at him. His face mirrored hers; heartbroken. She managed to smile at him before closing her locker, "Happy Valentines Day, Mr Shuester."

He longed to hear her say his name. Just once. He could see it in her eyes that she had wanted to. He had to watch her walk away into the see of kissing teenagers, alone and heartbroken. Will made own way through the halls, not being able to stop himself from shouting at them all to get a move on and get to class.

Rachel had been in the dance room of the school for the past two hours. Her fathers had told her that they were going to be going out for their Valentines meal and that they might be late. She was happy for them, and had given them her own Valentines Day cards. It had been a little tradition; they would each give her a card and she would give them a card.

She just couldn't bring herself to go home to an empty house, instead she thought she would work out. It was the best way to release herself of energy. She danced none stop for two hours, trying to forget everything. The music and her movements were helping but only just; she just wished she could have had something to drink. Forgetting everything.

Will was in his office grading papers. He had thought, since he was spending the evening alone he might as well do something productive before getting ridiculously drunk. Forgetting everything.

The rain was coming down hard. Like a monsoon. There were a few rumbles of thunder making ground feel like it was shaking and few flashes of lightening.

He didn't care. He got up and walked out of his office, not bothering to take his umbrella with him. She didn't care. The cooling rain would feel nice against her hot skin. She dashed out of the school and began to make her way to her car. Will had seen her and ran after her.

"Rachel!" Will called out from the school's entrance. Rachel turned around and saw him standing there like a God; his hands balled into fists and his legs open, his stance strong and powerful. He rushed to her, jumping the steps.

"Will! What are you-" He grabbed hold of her soaking shoulders.

"I can't. I can't do this, it's too hard!" He cried, shouting above the noise of the pelting rain.

"Will what are you talking about?" Rachel sniffled, the rain mixing with her own tears.

"You. Me. Us. I can't stand it. I love you! I need you with me and not having you wake up beside me every morning is killing me." Rachel was holding onto his shoulders now and she bent her head, closing her eyes tightly. "Will I love you too but we can't be together."

"Yes we can!" He shouted, taking her face in one of his hands, forcing her to look at him.

"No we can't, it's too hard!"

"But Rachel I love you." He still spoke loud, but now softer and with more feeling. "With all my heart and with all my soul I love you and I..I can't, I can't live everyday without you. Without your beautiful eyes, your sweet smile, your soft hair, your long legs, your velvet lips. I can't. I can't go on pretending that I can because it's killing me."

"Will I love you, and not being with you is killing me too."

"Then let's be together! Please Rachel." He held onto her harder, almost digging his trim nails into her arm. Rachel shook her head, water falling off her like a dog. "We can't." She sighed and looked at him again. "This was the deal; the club or us."

"I don't care about the club!" He shouted, trying to make her understand.

"What?"

"I mean I do care about the club, of course I do but Rachel I love you. You are my life."

"Then what do you suggest we do? Will, we can't be openly together there's too much at risk."

"I don't care. I love you Rachel! I love you! And...and I'm going to prove to you that I want to be with you forever."

Will fell to his knees, sliding his hands down Rachel's arms and sides. "Will get up you'll get your knees dirty and wet and that's not good-"

"I don't care about my knees getting dirty." Rachel said, looking up at her. His eyes scrunching because of the rain falling into his eyes. He took hold of her little hands in his. "Rachel, please, will you do me the honour of marrying me? Of being my wife?" Rachel opened her mouth with shock and crashed to her knees in front of him. "Yes. Will yes, of course I will!"

She took his soggy face in her hands and kissed him. She kissed him as hard as she could, never wanting to let her go. Will moved his hands down to her thighs and picked her up off the ground. He held her in his arms, still kissing her. She broke away finally and then rested her head on his shoulder. "I'll never leave you again." Will told her quietly, as he carried her to his car. "I promise, I'll never leave you again for anyone."


	11. What Needn't Be Done Is Done

**Chapter Ten**

**What Needn't Be Done Is Done**

Sue had watched the entire exchange; how Will had crashed to his knees holding onto the young girl, how they both cried more than the rain when they said how much they loved each other, how they gave each other the biggest smiles she had ever seen anyone give. It made feel sick; seeing how much love two people could have for each other. Also a hint of jealousy. And happiness. She felt happy for them? No. Of course not. She was Sue Sylvester; she was only happy for herself. A little smirk made its way onto her face. "Well William," she chuckled to herself, "looks like you just couldn't keep away from the Berry Juice."

Almost cackling to herself, she almost ran down the halls to get to Principle Figgins' office.

"Principle Figgins." She walked straight into his office and sat down. The balding principle sighed and looked up from his papers. He didn't want to listen to her; all he wanted was to finish reading on the school's finances and head home to his wife and children. "Yes Sue what can I-"

"It's about Shuester." Sue smirked, crossing her legs and putting her hands behind her head.

"Oh yes?" Principle Figgins asked, still not looking up from his papers. Annoyed, Sue stood and slammed her hands down on the papers. The man looked up at her with a heavy frown; looking at her as if to ask 'what the hell?' Sue brought her face inches away from his. Her eyebrow rose up.

"And a certain...relationship he's been having."

Now Principle Figgins was concerned. His eyes narrowed and he sat up in his chair. He placed his hands on the table, waiting for Sue to sit back down as she intimidated him when she stood up. "Go on?" He nodded his head, wanting her to elaborate. Sue brought her chair closer to his desk. "Principle Figgins, am I right in thinking that it is wrong – both morally and legally – for a teacher to have a romantic relationship with a student?" She knew the answer, but wanted to hear the man in front of her say it. The man narrowed his eyes again and nodded his head. "Yes Sue, that would be correct."

"So what would you do if I told you that Will Shuester was having an inappropriate relationship with one of the students, here at William Mckinley High School?"

"Sue," the man gasped, "that is a rather heavy accusation-"

"Oh it's not an accusation. It's a definitive."

Principle Figgins move closer. "How do you-"

"Oh well, I've seen him just now get down on his grubby little knees and propose to said student."

"Propose?" The man all but shrieked. "As in a proposal for marriage?"

"No a proposal for whale hunting, yes of course a proposal for marriage!" Sue shouted, rolling her eyes at the man's stupidity. "Honestly Figgins!" She huffed. "What are you going to do about it?" She asked, widening her eyes as if trying to make Principle Figgins read her mind.

Although, now that she had told him, she wasn't sure what she wanted him to do: maybe just get fired and for Rachel to be suspended for a week or something. But she suddenly had a horrible feeling that the punishment was going to be far more harsh than that. Will could seriously get in trouble. All she wanted was for the Glee Club to be abolished, and maybe never see the back or front of Will ever again but, she suddenly realised that he could be put into jail.

Simply for falling in love.

"Which student?" Principle Figgins asked serious, after a moment of coming to terms with what Sue had told him. She was pale. Suddenly, she didn't want to tell him. She wanted to tell him that she made the whole thing up, but she now also knew that that was not possible. "Tell me Sue." Principle Figgins ordered, slamming his fist down on the desk; making Sue jump. Sue looked at him, and saw that there was no way out. She swallowed and closed her eyes before admitting the name:

"Rachel Berry."


	12. Confessions

**Chapter Eleven**

**Confessions**

After driving home as fast as he could, Will practically pushed Rachel through the door of his apartment, his mouth attached to hers and his hands roaming her body hungrily. They were saturated. Even though Will had turned the heating up in the car for them to dry, they were still squelching in their shoes, and Rachel's legs and arms were glistening from the rain.

They collapsed onto the couch and continued kissing, sucking on each others lips and moaning into each others mouths. Will felt himself harden and Rachel found herself becoming wetter and wetter with each stroke of Will's tongue against hers. Will's fingers were in Rachel's hair, tugging at the strands and Rachel's hands were on his chest and face, not quite sure where she wanted them.

"I love you Rachel." Will managed to pant out.

"I love you too, Will." Rachel told him, latching her mouth onto his neck and sucking at his pulse point. Will moaned into her sucks and took hold of her shoulders, gently pushing her off of him. She looked at him, confused and was about to ask what was wrong, but Will pre-silenced her by kissing her and taking her hand in his. He smirked at her once she pulled away. "Will, what is that glint in your eye?" Rachel asked, quirking an eyebrow up at him. Will copied her action and then stood taking her with him. "You're wet Rachel," he hummed, causing Rachel to blush, "And I think we need to get you out of those clothes before you catch a cold." He nodded his head at her and took her to the bathroom.

Once the door was closed, Rachel began to strip but was stopped when Will held her hands against hers, ceasing her movements. She had already pealed her sweater off, and now he could clearly see her bra through her saturated white shirt. If he looked closely, he swore he could also see her nipples peaking through the fabric, only turning him on more. He licked his lips quickly and moved her hands onto his own shirt. "Let me undress you, and you undress me." He told her, but still asking her if it was okay with his eyes. Rachel nodded her head and began to unbutton his shirt. "And what do you suppose we do once we are naked?" She asked him, her own glint in her eye growing and twinkling. "Well," Will cleared his throat, having unclothed Rachel's torso almost completely and now working on her skirt. Rachel now had her fingers unbuckling Will's belt and her fingers dancing over his zipper, teasing him. "That's why I brought you into the bathroom, instead of the bedroom. I think it would only be best if we showered. After all, I really care for you Rach and I don't want you to get a cold."

Rachel unzipped his pants and pushed them down forcefully. She was now standing in just her underwear and wanted him in just his. They faced each other, almost completely naked and Rachel ran her hand over Will's private spot and dragged her fingers up his body. She moved her lips closer to his and further teased him; breathing on his lips and swirling her tongue around in front of him. Will gulped hard and tried to stop himself from moaning. He gasped loudly and groaned as he felt Rachel remove his boxers with one swift movement, he hadn't even noticed she was stroking him until he suddenly felt himself harden more.

Finally, Rachel kissed him and licked his lips with her strong tongue, before pulling away and taking her bra off, also in once smooth, swift action. She pressed her body against him and wrapped her arms around the back of his neck, bringing their lips to crash together once again.

"So, shall we try and rid ourselves of our filth?" She whispered seductively. Will simply winked and caught her off guard as he swooped her up in his arms and kissed her again and again until they were both stood in the shower.

As the water ran over their hot bodies, they continued to kiss and explore each other. They squirted shower gel on each other and cleaned them. Will even washed Rachel's hair for her; kissing her neck, sucking and biting her as he went. Nipping at her shoulder and licking the sores. Rachel went to her knees and kissed as much of Will as she could and finished by kissing his swollen, dripping lips.

Showering and drying together,was a wonderful experience for both of them. They'd never done it together before; Will once with Terri but it wasn't as good as it was with Rachel, and Rachel had only ever showered with other girls at the swimming pool. Of course, that couldn't possibly be compared to with what she had just shared with Will.

He stepped out of the shower first and wrapped a towel around his waist, before taking the largest towel he could find and holding it open for Rachel, who had begun to shiver a little from her lack of contact from Will. She stepped out of the tub cautiously, and Will wrapped the towel around her; Rachel held it in place and looked up at him with adoration. Putting his hands on her forearms and rubbing them, making Rachel feel instantly warmer, staring into her eyes. He moved his body closer to hers and Rachel felt restricted by the towel. She just wanted to bring his lips to her and kiss him. But instead, she allowed him to continue and dry her off; rubbing his hands all over her body. He went down on his knees, still rubbing her and then lifted up one of her feet, holding it in his hands and kissing her right from her big toe up along her foot, licking her ankle and continuing his line of kissing and dragging his tongue up her shin and thigh licking up the water droplets, sending soft moans to be sung out of Rachel's mouth. Her hands were in his hair, rubbing at his skull with her nails.

Will's mouth then came into contact with Rachel's centre and he looked up at her. He didn't even know she had taken her panties off, and was pleasantly surprised. But, instead of Rachel giving him verbal permission, she smiled at him and her hands pushed his head gently towards her body and Will closed his eyes, opening his mouth as his lips came into contact with her lips. As soon as he made contact with her most delicate, private area Rachel closed her eyes, swung her head back and sighed with a slight hiss.

He'd never kissed her down their before; and now he knew that he loved her taste. He ran his tongue through her folds, teasing her entrance as he poked his tongue in and out. Then his teeth found the bundle of nerves that he knew would drive her over the edge. He licked it, curling his tongue around it and then gently bit down on it, causing Rachel to gasp and then moan, crying out his name and her never ending love for him.

As they lay in bed; Rachel wearing a purple tank top and tiny red sleep shorts and Will in a pair of long sleep pants, Rachel kissed his fingers and they talked about their future together. Now that they were engaged.

"What kind of wedding do you want?" Will asked, sleepily but not in any way tired. Smiling, Rachel bit her lip and placed Will's hand on her chest, over her heart so he could feel it beating. She hummed and thought for a few seconds before revealing her idea. "I'd always thought I'd want a huge wedding. A real fairytale, Disney Princess wedding with hundreds of people and elaborate decorations and displays but now..." She let her eyes look down at the hand. It was covering Will's and somehow she could feel her own heartbeat through her chest and through his hand, pounding gently against her own hand. She bit her lip again and said quietly, "but now I realise that all I need in my 'perfect wedding' is you, standing at the end of the aisle waiting to saw your vows and anticipating to take me away to be your wife. Of course, my fathers would be there and your parents, but really I think that's all I need."

Will nodded his head, listening hard to her words and feeling her heartbeat against his hand. "That's sounds perfect." He told her quietly, "however," he picked up her hand and kissed it, "I didn't ask you what you needed, I asked you what you wanted."

"As far as I'm concerned, Will, just as long as you're there then that's all I want."

"Really?" Will asked, not believing that Rachel Berry would want a simple low key wedding.  
>"Really." Rachel turned on her side to look up at Will for a moment. "And a nice dress of course." She smiled and Will chuckled, kissing the tip of her nose and rolling her back against his arm so he could wrap her up again. A little frown covered his eyebrows for a moment as he thought. He didn't want to ask, but felt he had to for some reason. "What about your mom? Wouldn't you want her there?" He felt Rachel hold her breath and become stiff. He was about to take it back, when he felt her shake her head. "Maybe. I don't know." She dropped her eyes, but decided to keep the mood light. "What about you? What do you want for your wedding? I know that you were married before but, what do you want for our own wedding?"<p>

"I don't know. I guess I'd be happy and contempt with whatever you wanted."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I guess, all I'd really want is for all the people I loved to be there, of course, I don't know how they'd react once they'd find out you're my student." He sighed, frowning as he thought about telling his own parents about his future bride. "Hey, by the time our wedding arrives, I won't be your student any more." Rachel snuggled into his body a little more and kissed the skin she found. "I guess you're right." Will sighed again, happier and wrapped her up more. After a little moment of them both thinking about how to break the news to their friends and family, Rachel spoke. "Sunset."

"What?" Will asked, being brought out of his thoughts.

"Sunset. A beach wedding at sunset. Me in a beautiful white Grecian Goddess gown with my hair flowing around me and then a BBQ on the beach, with music and dancing and just love. Everyone there just being in love." She felt Will giggle under her. "What?"  
>"That just sounds perfect." He kissed the top of her head, picturing it already.<p>

Rachel frowned now, as another thought had crossed her mind. "You know what?"

"What?" Will chuckled lightly as he stroked his fingers along Rachel's arm.

"We've been dating less than a year and you proposed to me today on Valentines Day."

"Yeah. And?" Will asked, thinking he was in trouble – already feeling like a married man again!

"I just think that's really sweet and don't get me wrong but are you sure about this?"

"Of course I'm sure." But he felt that one of her famous Rachel Berry Rants was coming. She sat up and stared down at him, her hair flowing over one shoulder. "Because, I know it's not the biggest thing in the world but getting engaged and married is a big step and, when I graduate it'll be great because then we can get married but I'm just thinking, are you sure it wasn't just a spur of the moment thing?" Will brought his arms up to Rachel's shoulders and tried to bring her back down to him. "Rach, I understand your concerns but honestly I love you so much and meant everything I said; I can't live without you. Can you?"

"No." Rachel shook her head, " I can't live without you either." Will smiled at her and planted a light kiss to her lips.

"I actually have a ring for you." He confessed, holding Rachel's hands in his own, his finger lightly tracing the skin where the ring should already be sitting. "Really?" Rachel all but squealed.

"Yeah. Will kissed her once more and then rolled to his bedside table to bring out the little box. "It's not expensive and it's not fancy, but this was just such a spur of the moment thing and I promise to get you a better ring but, here." He sat himself on his knees in front of her and opened the box. Inside sat a little silver ring with a small, subtle but beautiful diamond. Rachel gasped at little, but held herself together. "It used to be my great grandmother's and I've been waiting to give it to the right person."

"Did you give it to Terri?" Rachel asked without thinking. Will shook his head and looked down at the sparkles. "No. I said the right person, Rachel. I always figured I'd give it to my daughter to pass onto her own son to give to his fiancée but..." He looked back up at Rachel and could see her eyes were glossing over with unshelled tears. "But Rachel, you are the right person. You are the right girl, who should wear my great grandmother's ring. You sang 'Get It Right' and 'The Only Exception; to me, Rach, you are the only exception and with you, I know I can get it right." Rachel's eyes had now let go of her tears and two of them trickled from her eyes and down her blushing cheeks. Will licked his lips, to stop himself from crying, "Rachel, I know I've already asked you but I want to ask you one more time." He watched as Rachel nodded her head and tried to hold herself together. "Rachel Barbara Berry," he smiled, feeling his own eyes spilling with tears, "You are more than my soul-mate; you are the person I was destined to spend my eternity with. In the words of Secondhand Serenade, 'I was born to tell you I love you.' I love you, Rachel and nothing would m-"

"Will you're rambling!" Rachel giggled, touched by his own version of a Rachel Berry rant. He laughed too and shook his head. "Sorry." He exhaled sharply and then looked into her eyes once again. "Rachel Berry, will you please fulfil my life and be my wife?" Rachel wanted to pause dramatically, but felt so overwhelmed by having been proposed to twice in once day by the same man, the man she loved more than Broadway, she couldn't. "Yes." She beamed.

Tears spilling out of his eyes, and laughter coming from his heart and mouth, Will carefully – his fingers sort of fumbling – took the ring out of the box and slipped it onto her finger. It fit perfectly, something Will was pleasantly surprised at. "It fits!" Rachel gushed.  
>"I knew it would," Will lied, he was actually afraid it would be too small. His great grandmother had slender fingers like Rachel, he was afraid they were too slender. Now, seeing the ring perched perfectly on his now fiancée's finger, he knew they were meant to be together for the rest of time. "It only just proves that you're meant to be my wife." He cried, a tear landing on Rachel's hand. She took hold of his face and brought her lips close to his. "It proves that we're meant to be together, and no one can hold us back. No one." She whispered, and closed the small gap between them. Pressing her soft lips against his and melting into their kiss.<p>

They lay back against the bed, holding each other and thinking more about their future; now that Rachel had a ring on her finger it felt so much more real. It felt like the biggest thing in the world; bigger than Global Warming or the economy – both of which were insignificant when it came to their love. All Will could think about was spending the rest of his life with the gorgeous girl who shared his bed next to him. "Besides," Will cleared his throat, still not having got rid of all the tears that had formed. "I understand what you mean. Getting married is a big deal. It's huge! I mean you are only eighteen. I mean, I love you but we don't have to get married right away." He had his arm wrapped around Rachel once again, and he stroked her shoulder and arm with his fingers.

Rachel frowned a little. "Oh God," she thought, "I have to tell him.

She swallowed and tried to keep her voice and tone light and casual. Really her heart was racing at a million miles an hour. She just hoped will couldn't feel it. Opening her mouth and closing her eyes, she spoke. "I'm sure there are bigger things than marriage."

"Like what?" Will asked, absent mindedly.

"Oh come on Will; " Rachel tried to giggle, but bit down hard on her lip as she tried to phrase her words; about to possibly shatter his world. She hoped not, but she wasn't stupid. They had just got engaged and now she was about to tell him something that was going to change their lives again. "Surely having children is a bigger deal than getting married."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. But we don't have to worry about that for a long time." Will wrapped his arms around her and kissed her temple, smelling her hair and loving every sent she had.

"We don't?" She asked nervously, thinking for a moment that maybe they didn't need to worry. But of course, the told herself once again that she was already a little over a month gone. Will smiled again against her. "No. I mean you'll be going off to college and getting a degree and being in Broadway shows-" She caught herself off guard by her forceful tone, as well as him when she then announced; "But I would like children Will."

Will frowned, confused as to where this assertiveness came from. She was powerful when she was talking about singing of course, but this was something a lot more serious than singing. Of course, he would never tell her that. He further stoked her shoulder, trying to calm her after he felt her heartbeat increase against him. He spoke cautiously, in case she thought he wanted children right away. "And I'm not saying we won't and I know I'm a little older than you but we'll have plenty of time to have children. Don't worry Rachel." He kissed her forehead, hoping to further calm her and perhaps steer the conversation away from the topic of children. They weren't even married yet, heck they had just got engaged and they were already discussing it! He and Terri didn't talk about children until they were married for about two years! "And also, I'm not going to pressure you in becoming a baby machine. I want to spend time with you and live my life with you." He spoke softly and cuddled Rachel, fully turning her over so she faced him.

Rachel wrapped her arms around him; comforted by the pressure of his chin resting on her head.

"Hypothetically," she asked, clearly but trying to be soft. "If we were to have children...a little sooner then you thought..wh..what would happen to us?" Her voice cracked a little towards the end. Something that didn't go unnoticed by Will. She had stammered slightly and could feel yet more tears coming to her eyes. She tried to get rid of them by keeping her breathing steady. Will was concerned; he knew her breathing technique and was aware that she was trying to stop herself from crying. He sat up and gently lay Rachel against the pillows. He frowned at her as he looked down on her worried features. "Nothing," he said quietly, shocked that she would think that something would happen to them, "Absolutely nothing Rachel, only that I would love you and the baby with all my heart." He placed his thumb lightly under her eye and swiped the fallen tear away. "I just thought we would wait a while until we got to that stage of our relationship. Everything's moved kind of fast so far, don't you think? I mean, we're engaged Rach," he smiled happily, "And like I said, I want to spend as much time with you as possible."

The young brunette hadn't even realised she was crying, until she was scooped up in Will's arms, shaking uncontrollably from her sobs. "Hey, hey," Will shushed her, both sitting up now with Will stoking her hair and rubbing her back. Rachel's arms thrown around his neck and holding on tightly with everything she had. "I'm sorry." She whispered, whimpering and crying harder. Will frowned again, not understanding what the girl had to be sorry for. One moment they were crying with tears of happiness because they were engaged and were going to take the next stage of their relationship further: from being boyfriend and girlfriend, to being fiancées and then husband and wife! "For what?" He asked, concerned in case he himself had done something and that he should be apologising. Rachel sniffled and pushed herself off of Will. She looked into his caring eyes and allowed more tears to fall. "I've ruined everything" She choked out.

"What? No you haven't-"

"Yes I have!" She jumped from the bed and covered her face with her hands. She turned away from him, ashamed and angry that she had to go and ruin everything. Before she came along, Will had a plan, even now they were together he still had a plan and now she was going to demolish that plan, like a clumsy baby with building blocks. Will crawled to the end of the bed, desperately to make himself understand why Rachel was so upset. "Why do you think that?"

"Because..." She turned around and removed her hands from her eyes. "Oh Will I'm so sorry."

"Stop saying that!" He said forcefully, not quite shouting but raising his voice.

"I have to because it's true!" She shouted back at him, becoming hysterical. Will didn't like this side of her; it made him see her young age, and that gave him a slight guilty feeling in his stomach. Still he pushed it aside and took Rachel's hand and held them against him, before she could move them away. He tried to look into her eyes, but she kept turning her head away from him.

"What have you done to think you need to apologise?" He asked, really scared now in case she had done something to jeopardise their relationship. Maybe she had told someone? Maybe someone had found out and she'd done something to them to stop them from telling? Of course, Sue knew about them but she promised not to tell anyone. Maybe Rachel had been threatened by Sue. The curly-haired man felt himself grow with anger; if she or anyone had laid a single finger on Rachel he would go ballistic. He held her hands tightly to him and pleaded with her to tell him. Rachel sniffled, trying calm herself. She could feel his heart beat against her hands and she tried to get her breathing in the same rhythm as that. A few moments past and she finally felt able to tell him.

"Will..." She whispered, looking into his eyes, but looking away at the last moment. "I'm pregnant."

The man's mouth dropped open. "With my baby?" He asked, shocked at the news.

"Of course Will!" Rachel slightly shrieked. "You're the only guy I've been with, the only guy I've ever wanted to be with." Will continued to stare at her; his mouth hanging open and his eyes glossing with a far away look. Rachel suddenly no longer felt sad, she felt scared. Fearful even. She let go of his hands and held his face. "Say something Will." She begged. "Yell at me, throw something, curse at me just don't shut me out." She began to cry again, but stopped at the sound of Will's calming, happy voice. "Why would I want to yell at you? Why would I want to hurt the mother of my unborn child?" He held her and placed her on his lap.

"Because I've ruined everything we have." Rachel's eyes were on the floor and her voice was quiet.

"No. No you haven't." Will shook his head defiantly. "If anything I have. It's my fault."

"No-"

"Yes. Look, Rachel..I'm not mad. Surprised sure but..but hey, Rach," he tipped her chin up so she could look at him, he smiled and Rachel could see the happy tear in his eye, "Not only are we a couple, but we're going to be a family!"

Hearing him say the word 'family' with such pride and excitement, Rachel couldn't help but smile at him. He pulled her head to his lips and rested them on her for a moment, taking everything in. In the space of a day; they had gone from being two lonely people, desperate of each others love to being engaged to now being a forming family. He sighed and kissed her, moving his hand off her cheek and slowly moving it to her stomach. As a reaction, and comforted by his warmth, Rachel took her own hand and put it on top of his hand. They sat together; daydreaming of their little family. They were a family and nothing was going to stop them.

Rachel walked into the school on Monday with the biggest, happiest smile on her face. She had spent as much of the weekend with him as possible, telling her parents that she was spending time with Quinn. They were a little shocked to discover that her previous tormentor had become her friend after she had slept over at the blonde's house. However, they were glad she was out of her room and mixing with people from her school. They trusted her, which made her feel a little guilty about not telling them the truth; she would, just not yet. She also hoped Will would be with her when they did finally know the truth. Both of them had hopped that they could tell them over dinner after graduation, that they were a couple and engaged. However, they would probably have to tell them that she was pregnant, before they found out themselves, effectively ruining that little plan.

Still, nothing could stop her from smiling like she had just won the role of a lifetime on Broadway. Will had told her not to, but she couldn't help but wear her ring on her finger. Although it wasn't on the correct finger, to get rid of suspicion, and the diamond was turned away from prying eyes, she still looked down at it with pride. Feeling more love than she had ever felt in her entire life by another man; that weren't her fathers of course. She smiled at Will as she saw him come out of the teachers' lounge, and waved at him. He smiled and waved back and was about to walk to his first class, but his face suddenly paled when he saw the ring.

"Er..Rachel can I see you for a moment?" He asked, adding quite loudly, "I just need to ask for your opinion on the latest Glee assignment." Making sure other teachers heard him and that the reason of Glee gave them both a reason to be together. "Certainly Mr Shuester." Rachel said, following him along the corridors and to his office.

Neither spoke until they were inside.

"Rachel what are you doing?" He asked, locking the door and looking terrified, peeking out through the blinds. "What?" Rachel asked, sitting on his desk, still holding her books against her chest. "Wearing the ring!" He hissed, panicking slightly and rushing over to her.

"Relax Will, I keep it around my neck-" She had begun to show him the silver chain, but was stopped by Will panicking more. "Then why is on your finger?"

"I just wanted to feel it on my finger." Rachel admitted, looking down slightly. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Will sighed, knowing he was being harsh. "At least did anyone see it?"

"No, Will I wouldn't let anyone look at it."

"Yeah well just make sure no one sees it, okay?" He ran his hand through his hair and took a seat next to Rachel on his desk. She held his hand and placed it on her lap. "Will, I won't. Okay, stop worrying." She held his gaze for a moment, smiling at him innocently and nodding her head to reassure him. He sighed again, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Sorry." He mumbled, "Sorry I just..." He opened his eyes and looked at her again."I can't help but worry about."

"You're sweet." Rachel stroked his cheek, enjoying the feel of his stubble. "But kind of annoying." She frowned playfully, causing Will to squeeze her knee. "I think I'll have to give you a detention for that."  
>"For what? Calling you annoying?" She teased, squeezing his fingers against her knee.<p>

"Yep. And, two now because you did it again."

"Well," she rolled her eyes at him and moved to kiss him. "What if I called you sexy?"

"Now that's just causing a whole lot of trouble."

"For me or for you?"

"Both of us." He growled and kissed her; both smiling into the kiss.

As he broke away, almost completely forgetting they were in school, Will put his hand on the small of Rachel's back and began to rub it gently. "By the way, speaking of trouble how are you?"

"I'm fine." Rachel asked, trying to cuddle him.

"No I mean what about you and.." He looked towards the door, but seeing as it was locked and they had the choir room separating them from the corridor, he relaxes. "And the baby?"

"We're fine." Rachel grinned, unable to contain it. "Luckily I haven't had much morning sickness lately, which I am thankful for. I don't want my dads to get suspicious."

"Where do they think you are when you're with me?" Will asked, curious as to know how his secret fiancée was able to keep meeting him.

"They think I'm with Quinn." She told him, matter of factly and calmly.

"Oh right, you two are friends now?" He asked, puzzled.

"Sort of." Rachel shrugged. She held her lip in between her teeth. "She was actually the first person I told that I was pregnant." Will stopped his soothing rub and stared at Rachel; the fear back in his eyes. "She doesn't know I'm the father right?"

"No! No of course not."

"Oh thank God." He sighed, relieved.

"But, back to me, I have started to feel a little queezy-"

"Maybe you should sit down on an actual seat." Will said, trying to push her up to sit down in his chair behind his desk. Rachel shook her head and leant into Will's body. "No I'm fine, but maybe you should stop wearing that cologne." Her face paled a little, and she wrinkled her nose.

"What's wrong with my cologne?"

"Don't take this the wrong way, but that cologne is making feel like I want to throw up."

"Oh right. Sorry." He said, smoothing his skin on his neck, as if it would get rid of the stench.

"It's okay. Slushies are the worst."

"Are people still throwing slushies at you?" Will asked, frowning with anger at the students he unfortunately had to try and teach. "Not today as yet." Pointing at her clothes she sighed.

"Well, if they do I'll kick their asses."

"And here you were thinking I was going to be the one to spill the beans about us!"

"Sorry." Will mumbled, blushing.

"It's okay; I find it very comforting."

"Good." Will smiled, kissing her nose.

"Remind me, how far along are you?" He asked, feeling guilty that he couldn't remember.

"Not far, only a couple of weeks. Maybe nine?"

"Nine?" He almost shouted. "Rach, that's more than a couple of weeks!"

"Will you're worrying again!"

"I have to; you both are the most important people in my life." He held her again, his hands hold her by her waist and almost pulling her onto his lap but deciding against it. Instead he just shifted her body so that she could lean into him. "Do you want to feel?" Rachel asked, biting her lip.

"Feel?"

"Yeah."

"Is there anything to feel?"

"Well apart from my increasingly large boobs-"

"Oh yeah that won't look suspicious!" Will laughed, kissing her neck.

"Well I did read that the baby is about the weight of a penny now."

"Wow a whole penny!" He gasped sarcastically.

"Fine, no touching for you!" Rachel tried to wiggle out of his grip, but he held her back, bringing her closer to him. "No, no, no, no wait. Wait, I'm sorry. I would love to feel Penny."

"Penny?" The brunette questioned, frowning with disapproval.

"Yeah why not?"

"Nothing. I just hope that isn't a proposed name for Tad."

"Tad?" Will mirrored Rachel's facial expression and disgusted tone.

"Yeah! Previously, he or she was a tadpole. So, Tad."

"But now he or she is a penny. So, Penny."

"Fine how about we compromise; Tad-Penny."

"Fine. Sounds perfect." He kissed her neck again, taking in her sent. "Do I get to feel now?"

"Of course."

Rachel took his hands and slid them around her waist, so that they rest on her small stomach. Having read that a woman doesn't normally show until they are at least three months pregnant, she didn't really have much in the way for Will to feel. Still, they both sat with their hands on Rachel's stomach; waiting and anticipating for something to happen. Even though they knew nothing would, not for a few more weeks anyway. Then, within a few months they would be able to feel their baby and then, a few more months, they would be able to hold their baby; kiss it, hug it, feed it and be parents to it. They already loved it, but they just had to wait a little longer.

"This feels kind of weird." Will chuckled, his finger stroking Rachel's stomach.

"I know. It's not like I have a bump or anything. Right now it just looks like you're seeing if I have indigestion!"

"You're right. However, I would love to get a further inspection on those Victoria Secret breasts you're modelling." His hands began moving up her torso and made their way to Rachel;s swollen, bigger breasts. Unfortunately for Will, his hands were stopped by Rachel's and bringing them back down to her stomach. "Don't even think about it." She playfully glared.

"Why? Are they sore?"

"Killing me!" She sighed. "I swear, I think I nice ice cold slushie shower might actually help!"

"Or I could just give them some loving later?" Will purred in her ear and kissed her neck again.

"We'll see." Just as she was turning herself around, the bell went for the next start of class. She jumped off his desk, however her hands had got tangled up in his; he was refusing to let go and they were soon playing a little game of 'don't leave'. "I have to go, but I'll see you later?" After a little pouting, Will finally let her go, unlocking the door and seeing her off.

"Absolutely, see you in Spanish. Te amo."

"Te amo tambien, hasta luego."

"Addios Tad-Penny."

"Adios padre!"

"Daddy." Will said to himself, smiling at the idea of him being a dad. A real dad this time.

Everything was going well; Will couldn't keep the idea of being a father out of his mind all day. He was a little distracted in most of his classes, but he was really distracted later in the afternoon. It was after lunch and only two more hours until the end of school. However, Will didn't know it but he would be getting out of school a lot earlier than usual.

A student was reading out a section of the text book when two uniformed policemen came in through the door. The student stopped reading, and the students who were asleep were now awake and looking at the cops. Some of them sunk into their seats; in case they were looking for them. Rachel frowned and her heart pace increase, as did Will's.

"May I help you, officers?" He asked, glancing at Rachel quickly.

"Will Shuester?" The one with the moustache asked.

"Er yes." Will stood up and walked round his desk. "Is there a problem officers?"

"Will Shuester you are under arrest-" The other police officer took Will by the arms, putting them behind his back and handcuffing him. Rachel stood up, shocked at what was happening. "What?" Will gasped, trying to struggle out of the metal. "For suspicion of having an illegal relationship with a pupil in your care-" The officer continued, ignoring the gasps and whispers from the pupils. Will stopped himself from looking at Rachel; knowing if he did it would give him away. "What? This is absurd-" He protested as he was taken out of the classroom, followed by Rachel.

"Will?" She asked, scared and shaking.

"Rachel, don't!" He snapped at her.

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do can and will be held against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?"

"What? Y..yeah I do but-" He was being lead out of the school quicker than he thought. His eyes were fixed on Rachel, running to catch up with them. He wanted to tell her not to run, afraid for the baby, but he didn't. Instead he stopped walking and looked back at her. "Rachel please be-"

"Sir you need to come with us now." The moustached officer said, trying to drag him away.

"But..but who called you? Who-"

"Sir don't make this harder-"

"Will, what happened?" Rachel had caught up with them, panting heavily.

"Rachel please!" Will begged.

A crowd had gathered; some of the students had seen the police cars and had texted, BBMed and called all the other students to tell them that someone was being arrested. Soon the whole school knew that Will had been having an affair with a pupil, and the gossip blogs were already talking.

The whole school followed a handcuffed Will being lead out to the car. He was protesting his innocence and Rachel was almost in tears: everything they feared had become a reality. Will was being arrested and it was all her fault; if only she wasn't a student or if only he wasn't a teacher or if only...there were too many if only's swirling around her thoughts and she instead decided to focus on Will.

"Will!" She rushed over to him, but was stopped by Miss Pislbury, holding her by the waist. "Will!" "Rachel stop calling Mr Shuester that-" She told her, looking over at him herself.

"I need to!" She cried, trying to break away. "Will!"

"Rachel, everything's going to be okay!" Will called back as he was being put into the car. "Don't worry, everything will be okay! We're meant to be together, I promise you!" The car door was slammed shut and it quickly sped away.

Emma released Rachel; shocked at what she had heard. Rachel was calling Will by his name, Will was saying everything would be okay...but the thing that stuck out for her was that look in his eyes. She had seen a look like that similarly pointing at her, but now it was more intense. It was filled with more..passion? Love? Desperation? "Oh my God." She gasped.

Quinn had run over to a sobbing Rachel. She had collapsed on the ground and was comforting her. "It's okay Rach," she said, unsure as to why she was crying. Sure he was her favourite teacher too but she wasn't crying over him being arrested. "No Quinn it's not!" Rachel sobbed hardened.  
>"Yes it will. This is clearly a mistake. There's no way he would-"<p>

"But he did!" She stopped him, looking her in the eyes. Quinn frowned and shook her head. Then her eyes widened. "What are you talking about Rachel?" She asked seriously and deeply.

"Will and I..." She stuttered, watching Quinn shake her head and her eyes grow wider.  
>"No." She said. "No, no Rach come on. You're joking right? You're just messing around?" Seeing Rachel shake her own head and cry onto her shoulder again, Quinn was sure that she wasn't joking. "Oh my God Rachel." She said, holding her. She pealed her off of her shoulder and looked into her red eyes. "Mr Shue's the father?" She whispered so no one else could hear. Her only reply was a sharp nod of Rachel's head, before she collapsed onto her again. Sobbing harder.<p>

"Miss Berry!" Rachel and Quinn were both taken out of their thoughts by the sound of Principle Figgins, standing with a guilty looking Sue, calling her over. "My office. Now." He bellowed, the other teachers trying to get the pupils back inside.

Quinn helped Rachel get up; she was feeling too shocked to stand so she virtually carried her to the office. "Quinn," Rachel gripped onto her dress to keep herself stood. "Stay with me." She begged. Quinn looked Rachel in the eyes and could see how terrified she was. Nodding her head, she took hold of the shaking brunette's hand and lead her in.

"Miss Berry I will ask you one last time," Principle Figgins beat his fist down on the table and was glaring at her. "Were you and Will Shuester involved in a romantic affair?" He sounded each word with a hard thump to the desk, making it shake. Rachel had gripped onto Quinn's hand and refused to let go. "I told you, no!" She shouted, crying endlessly. "No! Mr Shuester and I were not-"

"Then why do I have evidence and proof of having his affair?" He shouted back at her, making the little brunette shake more. "I..I..I don't know!" She cried again, looking to Quinn for help.

"Principle Figgins, can't you see you're scaring her?" Quinn glared at him.

"If you think this is scary, Miss Fabray, you should think about how the police will talk to her!"

"No!" Rachel screamed, flinging herself onto Quinn. Principle Figgins got closer to her, Quinn shielding the girl with her arm and being protective of her. "Then tell me the truth, Miss Berry."

"I am!" The girl cried, now into Quinn's shoulder. "Mr Shuester is innocent!" She kept on mumbling into Quinn, until she was allowed to leave. Principle Figgins was exhausted and ferocious that she hadn't confessed; dreading what the papers were going to say.

The only worry Rachel had at that moment in time was Will. Always Will.


	13. Confessions Part Two

**Chapter Twelve**

**Confessions Part Two**

Rachel's fathers had come to collect her and now they were sat in their dinning room.

Rachel had spilled next to nothing to Principle Figgins, claiming Will's innocence over and over again, of course now she knew she couldn't lie to her own parents. Quinn had gone home and she wished that she was there with her. She didn't want to be alone when she told her parents the truth. Honestly she had no idea as to how they would react. First, they would find out she had been seeing her teacher behind their backs and second they would find out she was having his baby. Or maybe she should tell them she was pregnant first and then tell them who the father is? Now would be a good time to pull out the handbook of 'how to tell your parents that you're in love with your teacher and are expecting his baby'.

Leroy and Hiram sat opposite her with a variety of emotions written on their faces; confusion, hurt, concern but also – and always – love. Rachel was and had been shaking. Principle Figgins hadn't told them why Rachel had been called to his office; he thought it would be best if she told them herself, which Rachel was more than grateful for.

No all she had to do was summon the courage up within her to tell them the truth. Her dad, Leroy, had brought he a glass of water, which she chugged within a couple of gulps. Her fathers stared at her with astonished eyes.

"Would you like another glass?" Hiram asked, reaching for the large polka dotted glass. He had never seen her drink so quickly. When she nodded her head, he left the room and filled it up in the kitchen. Rachel and her dad continued to sit in silence; both waiting for her daddy to return. As he did, Rachel smiled up at him and this time took little sips on the glass. She looked up at them both and breathed deeply.

"Why don't you tell us what has gotten you so upset sweetheart." Leroy offered, leaning across the table and patting her hand. Rachel nodded and wriggled her shoulders. She was preparing herself once again. The question was; what was she so upset about? Was it the fact Will had been snatched from her by the police? That she was pregnant at eighteen? That she was terrified by the thought of her fathers' reactions to her telling them she was engaged to her teacher? Or was it all of the the above? Slowly opening her mouth, she chose to work the events backwards. Telling a story was always easier than telling the truth.

"Will's been arrested." She muttered, now looking at both of her father's simultaneously. Her fathers looked at each other, questioning each other silently. Hiram cleared his throat before looking back at Rachel to ask; "Who's Will?" To which Rachel took another sip. Now she thought it would be best to take a sip of her water after every revelation. "Mr Shuester." She squeaked.

"What?" Hiram gasped.

"Why?" Leroy followed, just as surprised. Rachel took another sip of her drink, trying to prolong tell the truth as much as possible. "He...he's been having a relationship with a student."

"What?" Hiram gasped again.

"No! No I don't believe you. Mr Shuester?" Leroy was scratching his head with disbelief.

"Yes." Rachel nodded, speaking quieter now and staring into her glass.

"Oh honey, that's awful." Leroy leaned over again and held onto her hand, to which she pulled away and wrapped it around the glass. Clutching it hard. "That's not all." Her eyes kept to the glass.

"Oh God, don't tell us he's been doing drugs or something too?" Still wearing the face of shock, Hiram asked. Rachel shook her head, feeling a tear forming in her eye. She tried to ignore it and looked up. "No. No he's not, he'd never do something like that. He's never done drugs in his life."

Her dad scoffed and folded his arms, looking over at his husband for a moment and then to Rachel. "Well we never thought he'd break the law by having an affair with a student."

"It wasn't an affair, it was a relationship." Rachel scolded, staring her dad straight in the eye. Misreading her glare as one of her little temper tantrum, Leroy chuckled; "Same thing in the eyes of the law sweetheart."

"Still, what else did he do?" Hiram asked, leaning in closer to find out more. Her daddy was a stereotypical gay man sometimes; he loved to gossip and this seemed like the best gossip he had heard since one of the nurses he worked with had a boob job and then had to fly out to Mexico to get it fixed because they accidentally made the breasts noticeably different sizes.

Gulping down another few millilitres of water, Rachel looked up at her daddy. Then she shifted her gaze to her dad, also now leaning in to get the gossip. She blinked and tried to look at them but couldn't. Instead she stared at the water in her glass. It was so peaceful and calm; a complete contrast to her beating heart. She frowned and stuttered as she tried to tell them, still keeping the main point of the truth hidden. "The er...the student managed to get..um..he got her pregnant."

"What?" Hiram almost laughed but found the situation far too serious to joke about. His eyes were almost popping out of his head; he couldn't believe it. It was as if Rachel was telling him the latest plot line to one of his soap operas. "Oh my God. The poor girl." Leroy shook his head; feeling so sorry for the girl in question.

Nodding her head, Rachel continued to show them she agreed. However she then started to ramble and her nerves were shown once again. "But it's okay, because he's going to be there for her and they're engaged and they're going to get married and-"

"Whoa, whoa," Leroy held his hands out to stop her; the visual sense of needing her to calm down was the best way, he found, to stop her ranting. "Rachel how can he be there for her if he's in jail?"

"He's not in jail." She frantically shook her head, looking at him. "He's only been arrested."

"Yeah well, they'd have to get a pretty stupid jury together to not put him away." He scoffed, shrugging his shoulders and shaking his head. He couldn't believe the teacher's own stupidity. First dating a student and then getting her pregnant? He thought the man was smarter than that; a decent man who he may wanted to have considered a friend one day, after all the help he had given Rachel with Glee Club and helping her reach her full potential. All of the kids' potential, but now he wasn't so sure. What kind of man went around sleeping with students?

The young brunette froze at her dad's tone. "What?" She whispered, scared for the reality.

"Yeah honey, he broke the law. He abused his position of trust and power." Leroy further explained, but was cut off by Rachel throwing her fist on the table. "No he didn't!" She raised her voice, not quite shouting because of the build up of tears, but definitely changing persona. Hiram stood and tried to hold her hand – or fist as it was still scrunched up. "Rachel, calm down-"

"No!" Now shouting and scowling at her daddy, then focusing her attention back to her shocked dad. "I won't calm down not whilst you're saying cruel things about him." She stood and pointed her shaking finger at her dad. "I'm only telling you the truth." Leroy said soothingly.

"Sweetheart, why are you getting so upset about this? We know he's your favourite teacher but-"

"Because I'm the girl!" Rachel screamed, tears streaming from her.

Both fathers froze. "What?" Hiram blurted, with not so much emotion other than just a flat tone. Rachel composed herself again, but this time forgetting about the water. She couldn't drink, not if she wanted to choke on the water as well as her tears that were falling fast from her sparky eyes. "I'm the girl that's been having a relationship with him, I'm the girl that's engaged to him, I'm the girl that's carrying his baby and I'm the girl who's ruined his life!" Her voice rose louder and higher with each confession. She sat back down, feeling as if all the air in her small body had been knocked out of her. Leroy stood up and placed his hands on the table in front of him. He looked down at his daughter's trembling form. He spoke with a deep tone, not angry, just concerned and surprisingly calm. "Rachel I pray to God that this is just a practical joke." He continued to watch her as she sniffled; "Why would I joke about something-"

"Because what you just told us is incredibly serious." He cut her off now, widening his eyes.

"Is it true Rachel?" Her daddy asked, coming round to her and kneeling next to her. He placed a hand on her shoulder and spoke calmly to her. "Rachel, tell us." Rachel turned to face him and started crying again, not as much though. "Daddy-" She whispered.

Her attention was brought back to her dad, who had moved to her other side and continued to loom over her. "Rachel." His voice was completely different to her daddy's. He was not calm, although he was trying. "Tell me; are you really the girl who has been...involved with Mr Shuester."

"Yes." She whispered timidly.

"Oh my God." He slapped his hand to his mouth and moved away; too shocked to look at her.

"Dad please please don't be-"  
>"What? Don't be what, Rachel?" He yelled, turning back to her. Rachel's dad had risen to his knees and was rubbing Rachel's shoulders to keep her calm and to not get so emotional. Leroy continued to shout as loud as he could. "Mad? Angry? Furious? Feeling like I want to rip the guy's head off?"<p>

"Dad!"

"No Rachel! How could you? How could he?"

"Leroy calm-" Hiram tried to calm his husband too but was stopped by his husband continuing.

"How could he have abused you like that?" Leroy screeched; refusing to allow his own tears to fall. Hearing the word 'abused' Hiram felt sick and crashed to his knees, taking Rachel's shoulders and twisting her round to face him. "Rachel, are you okay?" Asking with all the worry and concern in the world. Rachel nodded her head, "I'm fine," and then turned to her dad to beg him to calm down and be rational. "But please don't blame-"

"Did he force you?" Leroy had come to Rachel now. He sat on the chair next to her and took her little hand in his large one. His eyes were wide and filled with more fear than he had ever felt in his life. This was his little girl, and anyone hurt her in anyway he wouldn't be sorry for his actions.

"What?" Managed to whisper.

"Did he force you? Did he threaten you to sleep with him?"

"No!" Rachel cried.

"Did he rape you?" Leroy asked, his voice shaking.

"No!"

"Then how Rachel?" He got up and almost kick the chair over. Only stopping himself as he clenched his fists. "How have you ended up pregnant by this man?"

"I fell in love with him." Rachel's new tiny voice admitted.

Leroy was fuming. He spun around and gripped onto the chair; imagining it was Will.

"What?" He spat.

"I fell in love with him, and he fell in love with me; we just fell in love together."

"I don't believe what I'm hearing." He shook his head, closing his eyes and praying it was a dream.

"Dad, Will is a good man-"

"I don't want to hear you describe him like that! He is a monster!"

"No he's not!" Rachel stood up, against her daddy's protests of trying to keep her sat on the chair. "He loves me and he's going to take care of me and the baby." Her dad walked over to her, now they were facing each other, up close. "How Rachel? He's in jail!"

"No he's not. And I'll make sure he doesn't go."

"What do you mean sweetheart?" Hiram asked from his still kneeling spot.

"I'm going to appeal for him to be released from custody-"

"I don't believe I'm hearing this!" Leroy yelled again throwing his hands up in the air.

"Dad I love him!" Rachel yelled.

"Love? Rachel you're just a kid! And now you're having your own kid? This isn't happening."

"Dad I'm sorry-"

"For what exactly?" Leroy spat again, glaring at his daughter. "For being stupid and getting yourself by a man twice your age, who just so happens to be your teacher?"

"Leroy-" Hiram warned.

"No Hiram, we've treated her like a princess for far too long now, it's time she wakes up and realises she isn't living in a Broadway musical!"

"I know that Dad!" Rachel cried harder.

"Really? Because I don't think you do."

"I do! Dad I'm eighteen I can make my own decisions!"

"Yes but you don't know how to make the correct ones!"

"Like you've never made a mistake." Rachel growled.

"My mistake never ended up with me getting pregnant by someone twice my age and ruining my life!" Leroy bellowed; Rachel or Hiram had never heard him yell so loudly. Rachel was, for a moment, scared of her own dad. "My life isn't ruined dad, I have plan."

"You have a plan? Oh great!"

"Dad please listen to me."

"No! I can't listen to you right now." He marched over to the dining room door and swung it open. "I'm so disappointed in you Rachel. I thought we raised you better than this." Before he stormed out of the room, he gave Rachel one last look of disappointment. "I thought I raised you right."

"Dad please-"

"Let him go sweetheart." Her daddy soothed, sitting her back down on the chair. Rachel cried a little more; sobbing hard into her sweater as she rested her head on her arms. After a few minutes of her daddy rubbing her back and allowing her to just cry, Rachel looked up and wiped her eyes.

"Daddy, you're not mad at me are you?" She whispered, trying to stop all the tears. Her daddy sighed, but held her hand. "I would be lying if I said I wasn't shocked by what you've told us."

"But you're not mad right? Please daddy, say you love me."

"Of course I love you Rachel," He brought his hand to her hair and stroked it, running his stubby fingers through her locks. "And your dad loves you too he's just...he's just a little upset right now."

"A little." Rachel scoffed.

"Okay a lot. But Rachel, we both love you and only want the best for you."

"So you're not going to kick me out?" She whimpered; remembering all to well what happened when Quinn was pregnant.

She felt her daddy's fingers still in her hair and then she felt her body being twisted to face him once more. He cupped her face in his hands, similar to how Will did, and had the most serious look on his face she had even seen him wear. "Never would we kick you out. Never, you understand me? Never. No matter what you do, or get yourself into."

"Thank you." Rachel whispered; more than gratful and thankful that she had such wonderful parents and not tyrants like Quinn had. Although at the moment one of her parents had stomred off in a fit of anger, that was understandable. She was just so happy that she hadn't been left alone and not been kicked out. She fell into her daddy's arms and breathed in his spicy colognes sent. "But I'm serious," she told him pulling away after their moment. She looked back into his eyes.

"I'm going to do everything I can to get him out of jail. Everything."

"Do you really love him Rachel?"

"With all my young heart, daddy."

"And does he truly love you?" He raised his eyebrow, hoping that Will was a man to be trusted and that he wouldn't leave his daughter and their unborn child. That he really was the good man Rachel said he was. He prayed he wouldn't abandon them, either by going to jail or by leaving her. "He gave me his great grandmother's ring, he said he'd only give it the right person. He never even mentioned it to Terri so...yes, he loves me."

"How does he feel about the baby?"

"At first, I think he was just in shock but honestly daddy, I think he's thrilled."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He said he would love and support me with whatever decision I made but when I made it clear I didn't want to get rid of it he said he'd be there for me. For us. He loves me, daddy."

"I guess the next stage is," Hiram sighed, but smiling. "How are we going to get him out of jail?"

"We?"

"You don't think I'd let you go through this alone do you?"

"What about dad? He hates me."

"No Rachel; he hates Will and what he's done to our baby girl, but he loves you more than anything in this world. Well, apart from me of course. You leave him to me, okay?"

"Okay. Thank you daddy."

"Any time princess."

He brought her into his arms again; remembering how he would hug her like this as a little girl when she had one of her nightmares or had been teased at school, or just needed a hug. A part of him really couldn't believe that his baby girl was going to have a baby herself, and at eighteen. She had her whole life ahead of her; Julliard,Broadway, New York lifestyle...and now she was going to be a teenage mother. Sure, she had the love and support of Will and her fathers, but he still couldn't believe that this had happened to Rachel. A part of him blamed himself; perhaps if they had tried to involve Shelby a bit more in her life, or just more female influences, having Barbara Streisand on the television screen and blaring out of their speakers was good, but maybe not good enough.

"Don't worry Rachel," he told her, "everything is going to be okay. I promise." Rachel sniffled into his shoulder; remembering how Will had said the same thing to her. She smiled at remembering his face, but lost the smile as she also remembered that he was sitting in a cell right now, missing her and probably being just as scared.


	14. To Elope or Not to Elope

**Chapter Thirteen**

**To Elope or Not to Elope **

Will had been released from the police station and driven to his apartment by a police car. It was dark by the time he had been released. He was mortified. As he was driven through the streets of Lima in the back of the car, he prayed that no one saw him. Of course, part of him didn't care. The entire school had seen him be arrested and they all probably knew now why he had been. All if the parents had probably been informed or had been told by their children. Now the newspapers were probably already being informed and by the next day probably the whole of Ohio would know about his private life.

He had been sat on his couch and was waiting for his trial. For the past week had had been thinking of Rachel and how they had ended up having their worst fears realised.

He was so scared. He couldn't believe that he could go to jail just for falling in love. Of course, it wasn't just for falling in love; it was breaking the law. He knew that teachers and students were supposed to date, it was obvious but he couldn't help it. He just fell in love wither and love her so much.

"I can't believe it's gotten to this point." He muttered to himself. "I can't believe how falling in love would cause such..." He couldn't finish his sentence. He was heartbroken. More than heartbroken. If the trial went how he imagined it would his life would be over; he may never teach again, he may never see his baby, he may never see Rachel again. He stopped his thoughts as he felt his hand damped. Seeing the tears form into a little puddle, he cried harder.

Not thinking, he collapsed to his knees and knelt in front of his coffee table and brought his hands together. He had been forbidden to talk to anyone from the school; that meant Emma, the kids and even the other staff there that didn't teach. He felt so alone. At least Rachel had her family and the Glee Kids to help her out. Who did he have? No one. His parents were in California and he had told them to stay away, even though his mother had begged to be at her son's side. He wished he could talk to her, cry into her shoulder. But he couldn't. He wasn't allowed to leave the state; of course he wasn't!

Sometimes it felt he wasn't allowed to go anywhere. If he went to the store to get some milk, he felt like a criminal. He hadn't left the house for more than a few minutes since he had been arrested.

The trial would be in two days and he was petrified.

Again, without thinking he sighed knowing there was one more person he could talk to that might not make him feel so alone. Well, not a person exactly.

Bringing his hands together and closing his eyes, Will began to pray. Something he hadn't done since he secretly prayed for Kurt's dad when he was in the hospital.

"God, I know I don't talk to you much but..I really need your help. I need some...guidance. I...I feel so alone. So, so alone, God. And I don't know what to do. I'm so scared God." He sniffled. "I want to be a man and do what's right but...but I don't know what that is any more. If I could ask for one thing it would be that I am allowed to be with Rachel and our baby. And, if I could ask for one more thing, then our baby would be okay. Not just physically, of course that is probably the most important thing but, I mean that when she or he is older that she won't be ridiculed for being the daughter or son of 'that teacher who slept with his student' or 'that slut her flirted with her teacher and got herself knocked up'. Because you and I both know, God, that Rachel is not a slut and okay maybe I shouldn't have slept with her but...we fell in love. You know what love is, God. You created it! You know how I feel about Rachel, how I truly feel about Rachel and I don't want anyone to abuse Rachel or our baby because of my mistake of not being able to resist her. Please God, please make everything okay. I love them so much. You know me, I've never felt like this before. I need her, God. I need her voice, her eyes, her lips, her heart." His voice cracked and he smacked his palms to his eyes to try and stop the tears.

Wailing loudly he continued to beg God to make everything okay; repeating himself over and over again that Rachel and the baby would be okay. Praying constantly that he could be with them, until he had curled up on the floor and cried himself to sleep. Again.

Rachel was walking out of the school, having got Will's message. She saw him waiting behind her car, crouching so no one would see him. She quickened her pace and when she finally got to him she fell into his loving embrace.

"Will you're not supposed to be here."

"Nice to see you too Rach." Will tried to laugh, but saw that Rachel wouldn't be laughing any time soon. "I had to see you."

"But you could get into so much trouble-"

"I don't care, I only care about you. And our baby. Whatever happens tomorrow-"

"Don't." Rachel begged with nothing more than a squeaky whisper.

"Rachel you are my life. You and the baby you're carrying are my whole world and I will do everything I can to protect us. My little family." Even though there still wasn't much for him to feel, Will still put his hand on Rachel's stomach and pressed down; trying to feel something. Anything.

He kissed Rachel and felt her wet cheeks against his, and found that his own cheeks were damp. Feeling as if he couldn't hold himself any more, Will dropped to his knees, Rachel holding onto his shoulders never wanting to let him go and he brought his lips to her stomach."I promise I will protect you."

He looked up at her, his eyes watering more and pleading at her.

"Rachel," He took her hand and kissed her palm and then her knuckles. "Elope with me."

"What?" Rachel gasped.

"You heard me, run away with me. Elope! We can go to to California and stay with my parents, change our name if necessary and live our lives together where no one knows us-"

"Will you're being crazy!"

"I love you Rach, and if that means I'm crazy then yeah! I'm a lunatic, but I love you."

"I love you too Will, but we can't."

"We can! We can even go to Canada where really no one will know us."

"Will listen to me, we can't. Okay, we can't." She stared to sob and Will lowered his head. He knew he was being crazy, he just thought it was worth a shot. He moved his hands and held her around the small of her back.

Behind them, Rachel heard the sounds of the other students coming out.

"Will, you have to go." Rachel sighed, still crying. She felt Will grip tighter to her.

"I don't want to go Rach." He cried. Rachel reached around her back to where he was holding her and she knelt to him, cupping his face. "I know, I don't want you to go either. But you have to. You could be in more trouble if someone catches you," the sounds were getting louder, "Go Will!" She urged. Will grabbed her face and kissed her, before jumping up and running away from here.


	15. Trials and Tribulations

**Chapter Fourteen**

**Trials and Tribulation**

The day of the trial arrived. The whole Glee Club was there to support Will. Emma was there too, although she still couldn't believe the charges he was being faced with. And she had spent most of the night and the entire of the car ride to the court house, praying that it wasn't true. However, after watching the way Will and Rachel were together, she changed her prayers; praying desperately that he would be let off and would still be allowed to teach.

Everyone was dressed as if they were attending a funeral; black skirts for the girls, black pants for the boys and them all wearing white shirts. They're hair was neat and tidy and their faces clean and presentable; as if looking smart and fresh would get Mr Shuester out of going to jail. Sue had even worn a black tracksuit; somehow being allowed to wear it in a court room where the dress code was strictly smart, if not basically black tie.

Will had dressed in the same way too, only he wore a black tie; still trying to look professional. His hair was slicked back and neat and his shoes were polished. But his hands shook and sweated and his throat was dry. He wasn't a religious man, but just as he was about to enter the docks, he sent up a quick prayer to whoever was out there: God, Buddha, Spock, Yoda, anyone, to get him out of there and to continue his life. Hopefully still with his teaching privileges and with Rachel.

Rachel was nervous. She had woken with worse morning sickness than ever before. She refused to eat anything and only sipped on her herbal tea. She accompanied her fathers in the car, not daring to look at either of them in eye. Instead, she kept her eyes focused on the outside world as it rushed past as throughout the drive. She stepped into the courthouse wearing a simple purple dress and a red cardigan, red ballet pumps on her feet and her hair in a purple and red hair band. She looked young, but she wore she Magen Dovid necklace that she got for her Bat-Mitzvah, thinking it would somehow make her look older.

Nervously, Will was lead in and put onto the stand. He stood there; feeling exposed and already guilty, his eyes scanned the court room. He saw Rachel's fathers and he gulp. Looking as scared as a deer in the headlights; they scowled at him. Leroy looking like he was about to kill him with his jaw clenched and his eyes wide and mad looking. Hiram just looked disappointed and upset. It was obvious that they angry with him, not only for dating their daughter and taking her innocence, but also for getting her pregnant. Will gulped again and scanned the rest of the courtroom.

His face fell as he saw all of his Glee kids. He could have cried seeing them all there. They supported him and Rachel, he knew that, but he still didn't want them to be there if the worst came to the worst. Sat next Finn, who gave him a kind smile and a reassuring nod, was Emma. She looked petrified; he wished she wasn't there either. They were friends and now she had to watch him being ridiculed. Sat near the back he then saw Sue. He expected her smirk, possibly watch the whole trial with a camera. However, she surprised him and actually looked..sad. Sad that this is what happened. She knew it would happen and yet she felt bad for him.

"All rise for Judge Mcgarther." The bailiff announced, bringing Will out of his search across the faces in the full, packed courtroom. Judge Mcgarther walked in looking high and mighty. He wore his robes and wig with pride and sat on his chair, looking down on everyone as if he were judging them, as well as Will.

Just looking at the old, scary, owl like man, Will knew this wasn't going to be an easy trial.

A Bible was passed to Will as he was read out his rights and the bailiff asked him the oath; "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?" To which Will straightened himself up and stared into the eyes of the bailiff, as if he were God himself. "I swear in presence of God and to the people of this courtroom, that I will tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth." He hesitated as he sought out Rachel's eyes.

Her bottom lip was between her teeth. Will could see she was biting on it hard, and he feared that if she continued to do so it would bleed. Hearing the judge clear his throat, brought Will out of his staring at Rachel's lips. "So help me God." He concluded.

The bailiff walked away and the court hearing began.

Judge Mcgarther began; "The court attends this hearing of one Mr William Shuester." He turned in his chair to look at Will. "William Shuester you have been charged with the offence having sexual intercourse with a child and thus having an illegal relationship with a pupil in his care."

Hearing the words 'sexual intercourse' and 'child' being strung in the same sentence made Will feel sick. He tried now, not to look over to Rachel. Every time he did he just wanted to go over to her, hold her and tell her everything was going to be okay. In reality, he really had no idea how things were going to play out.

"How does you plead?" The judge asked him. Will swallowed and cleared his throat before he answered, "Not guilty, your Honour."

There was a slight murmur in the court. With his previous scanning of the room, he saw many parents of kids from the school and some of the teachers. He knew that the parents were judging him, frowning and making comments that he should have been pleading guilty and not the opposite.

Will tried to ignore them, but he felt his cheeks glow red with shame and he lowered his head. Judge Mcgarther cleared his throat, "Very well," and he introduced the lawyer who was to be grilling Will for all the information. The lawyer stood up from his seat, taking his glasses off and placing them on the table, indicating that he only needed them for when he read.

"Mr Shuester," his voice was loud and harrowing. He sounded more like an actor playing the role of a lawyer then an actual lawyer. "You have pleaded not guilty for the crimes you have committed."

"Yes Sir." Will replied, although noticing how he hadn't actually been asked a question. "I have as I do not believe I have committed a crime. Never in my life have I committed any kind of offence."

The lawyer narrowed his at Will in confusion. "Do you not see that having a relationship with a pupil, an under age pupil may I add, is in fact a crime and therefore a criminal offence?"

"I do." Nodding his head he agreed, but he cleared his own throat to continue. "It's just I do not believe that what Rachel and I have done can be seen as a crime."

"Yet you are aware that you have had an illegal relationship with a pupil?" Will hesitated a little, unsure of how to answer. He knew that teachers and pupils weren't supposed to be romantically involved, but it was different with him and Rachel. He just somehow had to convince the court.

"I..I understand I have had a relationship with Rachel, yes." He refused to use the exact words as the lawyer. Yes it was true she was his pupil, but he honestly saw her as more than that: she was his fiancée and that was so much more. "But, we believe we have done nothing wrong."  
>"I see we are going to be going around in circles here, I shall continue." The lawyer cleared his throat and shifted his papers in front of him. Deciding to take a different approach.<p>

"Mr Shuester," he began again. Now he moved away from his desk and approached Will. "How long did your relationship with Miss Berry last?" Will scoffed a little and tried to hide the smile playing on his lips. "To be honest with you, if it weren't for this trial, in July it would be our one year anniversary." He knew that wasn't the answer the lawyer was looking for, but he didn't care.

He had sworn to tell the truth and nothing but the truth.

"So you believe that you are still dating Miss Berry?" The lawyer asked, shocked and confused at the teacher's boldness. Will allowed himself to smile over at Rachel. It was only small, and it was a private smile, but he was certain that everyone else in the courtroom saw it. "I do." He imagined himself saying the same words to Rachel at their wedding. And it made him smile more.

"Is it true, Mr Shuester, that you and Miss Berry did in fact break up from your relationship for a brief period of time?"

"Yes. It is true."

"Why did you break up with her?"

"I was being blackmailed."

"By whom?"

"By my colleague, Coach Sue Sylvester." Saying her name made Will growl and scowl at her as she sat in the auditorium of the court. He saw Sue gulp and for a brief second, he actually thought he saw her look guilty.

The lawyer ignored the look he gave her and continued with his questions, folding his arms and blinked, as if he was confused as to why he would be. "And why was she blackmailing you?" Will continued to glare at Sue. He wanted to make her squirm in her seat. She was very good at making others want the ground to swallow them up, and now Will would try to make her feel the same.

"Because she thought by doing that she thought I would dismantle our high school's Glee Club."

"Why would she-"

"Because she's crazy!" He yelled, banging his fist on the bar that was separating him from everyone else. He kept his voice raised, loud and full of anger. "She honestly thought I would break up the club in fear of our relationship being found out!" Judge Mcgarther didn't like his tone, and reminded him that he was in a court of law and he would have to calm down. Will apologised, taking a few quick breaths to further calm himself before the prosecutor continued.

"So you instead broke up with Miss Berry." Will whispered, nodding his head at his prosecutor, before he spoke. "Yes." He looked down at the ground and composed himself. Remembering his conversation with Rachel made him almost want to cry. He looked back up at the man, having got rid of his overwhelming need to cry in front of everyone. "We both agreed, well actually Rachel brought it to my attention, that it would be harder and unfair if I broke up the club instead of breaking our hearts." Cautiously his eyes flickered to Rachel's. She was trying to hold herself together too; fighting back heavy tears. "Did you agree with her?" His prosecutor asked. Will bit his lip, still staring at Rachel. "No." He said quietly.

"But you eventually did?"

"Of sorts."

"What do you mean by that?" The man was intrigued now, even if it was just pretend to get a reaction out of Will. He broke the eye contact for a second to look at the man, and then back at Rachel. "I love her, so I want to do anything and everything I can to make her happy." He could feel his voice begin to crack, but he didn't care. Simply, he watched as a tear made its way out of one of Rachel's beautiful eyes.

They shared a moment. A moment across the crowded court room, being watched by hundreds of judging eyes. One of many, and Will thought back to when he saw her cry like that once before. The only difference it was a tear of happiness, and not of fear for losing him.

_The two of them were at his place the day before they were due to go back to school. Will had tried to make their last hours together magical, romantic and special. He'd made dinner and set the table as if they were in a fancy, romantic restaurant. Also, he had filled the bathroom tub up with boiling hot water, sprinkled bath salts in it, to create hundreds of fruity smelling bubbles, and lit candles. A few cheesy rose petals were scattered on the floor and the towels were warming up on the radiator. The room was hot like a sauna; perfect. He also had a bottle of sparkling apple juice in a bucket of melting ice. He wanted to tell Rachel he loved her in a romantic, sexy setting but completely sober. He'd said it before, but he thought this would be ideal to say it again. _

_Finally the time came for their bath. They had been staring lovingly into each others eyes across the table; hand in hand and sighing lightly. Rachel blinked and got up to wash the plates, but Will caught her and held her by her waist. Giving her a light kiss he eased her hands down to the table so she could place the crockery back on the table. He held her by her hips and swayed her lightly. Bending his head he lightly kissed her lips again and whispered against them, sending little sparks to shoot down Rachel's spine and to her core, "Follow me." _

_By her hand, he lead her to the dark bathroom. It was only lit by the candles and the room was still warm. Before Rachel had time to gasp at the romantic gesture, Will was already moving her long brown hair out of the way, running his fingers softly over the exposed skin of her neck and shoulders and kissed every part skin he could taste. Running his tongue over her his fingers then found the zipper of her dress and slowly took her out of it. She wasn't wearing a bra, and so Will was faced with Rachel's perky breasts staring at him. Her nipples were erect and longed to be touched by him. But, she knew she would have to wait, as Will was paying particular attention to her neck. _

_Rachel moaned and sighed at his touch and closed her eyes. She found her fingers unbuttoning his shirt and pushing it off his back. Bringing her lips to his shoulder, she bit him lightly and soothed the skin with her tongue and then she sucked at the skin and kissed his neck. She was unable to get his lips as he was kissing her own neck, but she continued to moan into his touches. Slowly, she slipped out of her shoes and felt her dress fall to the ground, closely followed by Will's shirt and then his pants. The man stepped out of his pants and held Rachel close to him; taking her by her hips and looking into her eyes. _

"_Shall we get in?" He asked in a low whisper. Rachel replied with a simple nod, allowing Will to push his thumbs into the elastic of her panties and push them down to floor. Rachel followed his actions by pushing Will's own boxers off his body; leaving them standing there naked and pressed up against each other. Neither leaving the others eyes. Rachel's breasts pressed against Will's chest, his own body pressing against her. Rachel pushed harder as she went to kiss him. He kissed her back, rest his hands on her backside and giving her a gentle squeeze; sending a pleasurable moan to escape from her lips. She broke away from the kiss and took his hands off of her. Will frowned a little, but it soon disappeared as he watched her walk towards the bath tub. She raised one of her slender, smooth, tan legs and gently placed it in the water. She then repeated the action with the other leg; now standing in the water, she faced him and rolled her head back, shaking her hair behind her. She brought her hands to take the locks in her palms, and then brought them in front of her, trying to cover her breasts with the waves. Her hands ran themselves over her body, never breaking the eye contact with Will and she then gently lowered herself into the bubbles and resting against the porcelain._

_Will watched her for a while; she ran the warm water up her arms and watched it flow over her perfect skin. Her hair had dipped into the water, and she wrung it through her fingers. Her hands proceeded to 'clean' herself. Then Will watched her bring her knees up to make room for him. Her eyebrow raised at him, as if asking him to get in. He walked over and sat in the water, ignoring some of it slosh over the side. _

_They cleaned each other; running their slippery hands over each other's wet bodies, stroking their hot skin. Rachel then situated herself between his legs and Will ran his hands from her feet to her shins and over her knees, down to her thighs. His hands ran themselves up her body, graciously caressing her centre quickly, and smoothing pushing his palms up her toned stomach – loving the way her muscles flinched under his touch – and eventually cupping her welcoming breasts. Rachel leaned into his touch and brought her hands up his torso, grazing his arms with her soapy hands and wrapping her arms around his neck. _

"_I love you Will." She told him sincerely. She moved her face closer to his and kissed his lips hard and running her tongue over his bottom lip. Will opened his mouth and moaned as he felt her wet, strong muscle play with his. His own hands kneaded and massaged her breasts and eventual moved them down to the small of her back, pressing her closer to his body. Breaking away from the kiss Will leaned back to look at her. A tear had slipped out of her eye. He kissed it away and then whispered; "Why are you crying?" Rachel sniffled and smiled as brightly as she could before kissing his chest. "I'm just really, really happy." _

"Let's move on shall we;" The lawyer cleared his throat, bringing Will out of his daydream. He tore his almost tearful eyes away from Rachel to focus on the tall man before him as he asked his next question. "How did your relationship with Miss Berry begin?"

"I..I'd rather not say." Will blushed; knowing exactly how his answer would be taken.

"Mr Shuester," the Judge sounded bored but he was clearly putting it on as his facial expression told a different story, "May I remind you that you are in a court of law and you have sworn that you tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. You will answer any and all questions put forward to you unless told not to by myself, is that understood?"

"Yes your Honour." Will nodded, clenching his fists together.

"Good. Please ask the question again." Judge Mcgarther instructed.

"Yes your Honour." The lawyer answered, smiling up at the judge with the look of a man who kissed ass to get to places in his life. He face Will again, with a face of stone. "I ask again; Mr Shuester, will you please tell the court how your relationship with Miss Berry began?"

"Well," he looked up at Rachel who was slowly shaking her head at him. He sighed, knowing he had to tell them. "We were at our singing competition. All of us, not just Rachel and I but the whole club. We were in New York. We had just come in twelfth place and we had all gone out celebrating and then I told everyone to go to bed as we had to be up early for the flight back home. However, I couldn't sleep and so I headed to the roof to clear my head. Rachel was already there when I was up there. We then started to talk and I offered her a drink-"

"What drink was that, Mr Shuester?" The lawyer interrupted. Of course he was going to interrupt him! It was his job to twist Will's words as much as possible. "It was a..a glass of wine." Will sighed.

"What kind of wine?"

"Does it matter?" He spat back, glaring at the man.

"Mr Shuester you will answer the question." The judge ordered, banging his gavel for effect.

"Yes you Honour." Will grumbled. "It was a glass of red wine."

The pace of their 'conversation' increased with the lawyer firing questions and not allowing Will to answer them fully. "So you are admitting to the court that you supplied a girl, a young girl, your student, your under-age female student an alcoholic beverage?"

"Yes but-"

"And you were aware that in this country a person has to be over the age of twenty one to consume alcohol?"

"Yes I am but she told me before that she had drunk alcohol before so-"

"So you thought it acceptable and appropriate to give her an alcoholic drink?"

"No but-"

"Then why did you?"

"She told me she couldn't sleep and alcohol sometimes helps me get to sleep so I offered her some." The court groaned, not believing his story and not wanting to listen. Will shot looks at the crowd, scrunching his eyebrows together and getting more than angry. "She could have said no!" He shouted, waving his arms in the air to make his point that he didn't force her. "But she didn't."

"Yes but-"

"And besides, Mr Shuester, wouldn't brandy or whiskey be a more appropriate alcoholic beverage to consume if your purpose and aim was to go back to sleep?" The lawyer asked, facing the court with his eyes wide and his eyebrows sky high. Behind him, he heard Will giggle. "What are you sniggering at Mr Shuester?"

Will and Rachel were both giggling to themselves; Leroy and Hiram were trying to stop Rachel from laughing but it was proving difficult. They both had remembered the night and what was said. The judge banged his gavel, putting an end to their shared laughter. "Mr Shuester you will stop at once!" The man bellowed, threatening to suspend the trial and he would have to go back in the cells. "I'm sorry your Honour. It's just," he looked at his girl again. "Rachel said the same thing."

"I see." The judge looked over at Rachel who was still giggling a little, holding her hand over her mouth whilst Hiram soothed her and calmed her down. "Whilst we are on the subject of night time drinks, wouldn't a mug of cocoa be better for the young girl to drink?"

"Yes you are probably right but-"

"And as the soul person in charge of your students' well being, should you not have told her to get off the roof as soon as you had found her and instructed her to go back to her room?"

"Hindsight is a wonderful thing, Sir," Will sighed angrily and exhausted with all the questions.

Clearly he was guilty before proven innocent.

"However at the time I only acted as I did and I apologise for that." He flicked his gaze to Rachel's parents; neither of which appeared too angry with him. Hiram gave him a sympathetic smile, a sort of encouragement for him not to lose faith, Leroy however just scowled at him with a deep frown set on his face. Will felt his stomach sink once again as he sighed and looked at the ground.

He just wanted it all to be over so he could take Rachel home and hold her, like they did before he was arrested and before their nightmare truly began.

"Can we please move this along?" Judge Mcgarther ordered, sighing a little at the end of his request. The prosecutor smiled up at him again, "Yes your Honour." He then frowned at Will. "So what happened after you gave Miss Berry the drink?"

"We talked and eventually ended up drinking the whole bottle-"

"By which point how was Miss Berry feeling?" The man asked, tapping his chin with his finger.

"Um...I don't know." Will shrugged, trying to think, but keeping his eyes down. The prosecutor let out a little laugh, not believing Will and wanting him to give every little detail of their night. "Oh come on Mr Shuester, surely you could have seen how she had reacted to the alcohol?"

"All right, she was a little drunk. We both were." Will admitted, watching the man cross the floor in front of him. He was thinking of his next question. How to make Will tell him what he wanted to announce to the court.

His thin face smirked at Will. "And then what happened?" He asked innocently, like a child.

"I...I told her how beautiful she was." Will stuttered, feeling his cheeks burn.

"Did you not think that was highly inappropriate?" The man asked with faux shock, to which Will rolled his eyes. "Of course, but I only said it because she was doubting herself. She felt insecure and I just wanted to make her feel better."

"And what happened after you told her she was beautiful?" The horribly thin man looked up at Will through his short eyelashes. He knew exactly what happened next; he had it written on his notes, he just didn't want to say it: he needed Will to admit it.

Cheeks burning even hotter, Will managed to look out at the spectators. Shame was filling his heart, which he hated because he was not ashamed in any way of the love he felt for Rachel. Or their baby. Of course, he wasn't going to mention that he had gotten Rachel pregnant. That really wouldn't go well in his favour. His eyes scanned the clueless faces of his students, of his friend and then to watering eyes of his love.

Breathing deeply, taking his eyes away from hers, Will mumbled what they did next. Not loud enough, and so the prosecutor, having heard him clearly however, made him repeat himself by saying in a patronising manner; "I'm sorry Mr Shuester you are going to have to speak up-"

"I kissed her." Will shouted; annoyed and really having to fight the urge to run away from the stand, take Rachel's hand and drive her away.

The room gasped and started to mumble again. Through the noise, Will pleaded his innocence, looking out to the crowd. "But I pulled away and I apologised but then she wanted to kiss me and-"

"You kissed your student," The prosecutor bellowed, trying to stir the emotions of the jury even more. "Who was under the age of legal sexual contact and who was at the time under the influence of alcohol, in your care?"

"Yes but-"

"Did you pressure Miss Berry in anyway?" He asked in an accusing tone.

"No!" Will scolded. "Absolutely not! I would never pressure any my students into doing anything they didn't want to do."

"So Miss Berry didn't put up a fight?"  
>"No. She wanted the kiss just as much as I did!"<p>

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes! I am!" Will yelled again, thumping his fist repeatedly.

"Did you ask her?" The man asked with wide eyes and a childish attitude.

"Well I...I didn't need to." Will stuttered, knowing that what he was saying was the truth. He just needed to be believed. "You didn't need to?" The prosecutor asked, raising his eyebrow at him.

"No because she then kissed me back."

"That doesn't mean she didn't want you to kiss her."

"But she did! She did want me to and she-"

"I'll move on," the man coughed, now wanting to move the events forward. He had made his point that it was Will who had issued the kiss and the first point of inappropriate behaviour. He now had to dwell it out further.

He turned back to Will, after a little more pacing the length of the courtroom with his hands behind his back, his head bent and his eyebrows furrowed, as if clearly deep in thought.

"Had Miss Berry and yourself acted inappropriately towards each other previous to this singing competition?"

"I...Well...we, um.." Will blushed once again. He knew perfectly well that when he and Rachel would talk privately, that it always more or less was as teacher and pupil, however their conversations had such a relaxed tone and comfortable air about them. He honestly felt that whenever he was talking to her, he was talking to his best friend. So..once or twice, he knew, he had dropped his guard and made the tone slightly more friendly than acceptable. Flirty perhaps? "I guess you could say we flirted." Will bit his lip but then proclaimed innocence once again; his eyes startlingly wide and his voice high and booming. "But it was harmless!"

"What kind of 'harmless' flirting did you instigate into?"

"We would joke around and punch each other's arms playfully and laugh and make little comments. I admit, we sometimes acted more like best friends than teacher and student."

"Did you touch her at any point?" The prosecutor asked in a calm voice.

"Well I high five my Glee students when they do well in a song-"

"Yes but did you touch Miss Berry at any point during your trip or previous to your trip?"

"Not in a sexual way if that's what you're implying." Will slightly growled, but regretting it.

He should have just said no. No, no, no and once more, no. No he did not touch her. But then, he had to tell the truth. However, he didn't like where the questions were heading, so perhaps he wouldn't tell the whole truth. No. He had to! He was in a court of law! He had sworn an oath! He had to tell the truth. The whole truth and nothing..but he wanted to be with Rachel so badly. And their baby. He wanted a future with them, and not one single part of that future involved the love of his life and their child come visit him in prison. No child should have to see their father behind bars; especially for something so innocent as falling in love. It's not like he had murdered anyone! No. He wouldn't allow that. So..he may have to lie. For the sake of their love.

"Then how did you touch her?" The man asked, frowning a little at Will's answer.

"I...occasionally hugged her." Will shrugged.  
>"You would not see a hug as sexual contact?" The prosecutor folded his arms across his chest, wanting a direct answer. Will narrowed his eyes at the man again. "Not in the way I did it, no."<p>

"How would you see it as, the way you did it I mean?"

"Like I was hugging a friend or a sister. Nothing sexual at all."

"When did that change?" The man asked; the smirk on lips telling Will that he knew about the extent of their romantic relationship. Will froze a little. As if knowing. "When did what change?" He asked, scared that the man was going to admit it in front of the whole court – and in front of his students, friend and Rachel's parents – that they had slept together. More than once. The prosecutor huffed, aggravated. "When did you become more sexually involved with Miss Berry?"

"The first time I kissed her, would have been my...my first sexual contact with her."

"Are you sure about that?" He asked, almost laughing.

"Yes. I am." Will's eyes fell to the floor, not wanting to look at the man.

"Then why the need to hesitate?"

"I'm sorry?"

"You hesitated as you finished your sentence."

"I...I was just thinking."

"About?"

Rolling his eyes and flexing his hand, he sighed his answer. "I'm a very nervous flyer?"

"What has that got to do with anything?" The thin man asked. Will sighed and ran his hand through his hair to explain himself. "On the flight to New York, before we took off, I explained to Rachel that I was a nervous flyer and she told me that she was a relatively good flyer and loved to do so. She told me that whenever she and her fathers would fly, her daddy would sit in between herself and her dad and hold his hand to stop him being scared, or at least calm his nerves. Rachel therefore suggested that I could hold her hand whenever I felt scared."

"So you feel that by holding her hand on the flight was seen as inappropriate sexual contact?"

"Um...no I don't think it was." Will replied, feeling himself begin to blush again

"Mr Shuester, was there any other inappropriate sexual contact on the flight?"

"Um...no. I er...don't believe there was."

Will knew that the man was aware he was lying, he saw the smirk creep across his face. "Mr Shuester I do believe you hesitated again."

"Okay fine." Will sighed louder and shouting once again, running his hand through his hair once more. "During the flight there was really bad turbulence and I...I got scared."

"You got scared?" The lawyer raised his eyebrow at Will and crossed his arms.

"Yes."

"So what did you do?"

"I...I jumped and buried my face into Rachel's chest."

"Where about on her chest?"

"What do you mean, Sir?"

"Well I hate to sound derogative but Miss Berry is a teenage girl. Almost a full grown woman. Therefore she had developed breasts-"

"I did not put my face deliberately on Rachel's breasts!"

"But you did put your face on her breasts?" He asked accusingly.

"Not intentionally but-"

"So you invaded her personal space and put your face between an innocent young girl's breasts?"

"No! You're twisting my words!" Will shouted, pointing at the man. He could hear the whispers once again, feel his cheek glow brighter and see the worried look on Rachel's face. This was not going as well as they had planned. He could see that she just wanted to get the whole thing over and done with, but knew that she still had her chance in the stand. Their nightmare was no way over yet.

"Let's move on," the man cleared his throat, smirking once again to himself. He turned away from Will to ask his next question. "So after New York, what happened between Rachel and yourself?"

"I felt embarrassed so I avoided Rachel."

"And then what happened."

"Then I guess we...um..I don't know." He stuttered, looking and his feet again.

"You don't know?" The man asked again frowning and shaking his head.

"I mean we..." He looked up at Rachel and smiled at her, "we confessed our love for each other." Rachel smiled at him and they had another moment. Bringing Will out of his moment once again with Rachel, the lawyer spoke up. This time addressing the court with his next point.

"Now that brings me onto my next set of questions. You claim that you love Miss Berry-"

"No I don't 'claim' that I love her, I do love her."

"When did you two decide to make your fling a relationship?"

"Our relationship was never a fling." He growled, glaring at the man straight in the eyes. "It was always an honest, loving relationship. We talked about it, we knew about the consequences but we still thought it was a good idea to keep our relationship a secret as we knew that if it got out we were dating we would both be in a lot of trouble. Not just me. We're not stupid; Rachel isn't stupid, we knew what we were doing. We dated throughout the summer, acting like a real couple like we didn't have any secrets and we didn't need to hide. She was my girlfriend and I was proud to be her boyfriend. From there our love just progressed and continued to blossom, even in the new school year, it just continued to grow. It was hard but having to keep it a secret, especially with our friends and family but we made it work. We told each other repeatedly that we loved each other and we both knew our love was for real." Will could have sworn he heard the girls from Glee Club swoon and make awing noises. He looked up and saw Quinn give him a sweet smile, nodding her head as if to say 'I approve'.

The lawyer cleared his throat again, to bring the court – mostly the young laddies – to the attention that what Will had done by having a relationship with Rachel was wrong. He scowled at Will again, accusingly. "How did you two make it clear to each other that 'your love was real'?"

"We just...showed it." Will shrugged, not sure how he could explain it any clearer without going into details. The lawyer sighed as if he was bored and tired of not getting the answers he wanted.

"How, Mr Shuester?"

"We just did!" He yelled, getting frustrated.

"I'm going to need you to be specific."

"I..." Will shook his head and his eyes looked up to the ceiling, seeing if his answers were written above him. "I took her to the Winter Wonderland Dance and I bought her a lilly corsage for the occasion, we kissed and held each other, we dance with each other, went on dates-"

"Those things are very trivial Mr Shuester."

"I call it romantic Sir." Will growled, and he heard Puck laugh.

"Was there not anything else that proved to each other that you loved each other?"

"What do you mean Sir?" Will was beginning to understand what the lawyer was digging around for now and there was no way he was going to admit to what he and Rachel did. There was also no way that he would admit that he had gotten Rachel pregnant. If he did, he would definitely being getting himself a one way ticket to Allen Country Jail. And, if he wasn't careful, he would be receiving a hefty sentence. The lawyer huffed. " I understand that you two are now engaged?"

"Yes. We are. I asked her to marry me not long ago."

"That's a pretty big step." The man raised his eyebrows at Will.

"Yes it was."

"But it wasn't the first time you made a big step towards your relationship."

"I get what you are implying, Sir, I am going to say right here, right now that we never did anything sexual." He shouted. Wanting to add, until she was eighteen.

"Oh really?" The prosecutor asked, looking smug, knowing that Will was lying. Will gulped and looked at Rachel.

Before telling the whole court a lie, he looked at Rachel. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. Her eyes were pleading with him not to tell the court what they had done. Will gulped once again as he knew he had to tell them, trying to end this nightmare. But he wouldn't. He knew what would happen if they found out that they had slept together.

He stared the man, right in the eyes once again. "We never progressed in our relationship to anything sexual beyond...certain things. Be we never had sex." He blushed, admitting what he and Rachel got up to. He couldn't look up, he wouldn't knowing that his students were there, Rachel's parents were there and Emma was there.

"No more questions your Honour." The prosecutor grumbled, wanting to interrogate him more, but thinking he could probably get more out of Rachel. Will was taken by his arms and lead to sit down. He didn't dare look at anyone in the audience, he dimply kept his eyes on the ground.

After hearing from Sue and Principle Figgins, telling the court that they knew nothing about the 'affair' until Sue saw them slow dancing in his office and that she had tried to split them up and when they didn't she went to Principle Figgins. It was then Principle Figgins who announced to the court that he felt it was his responsibility as Principle of the school, to contact the police. Principle Figgins didn't hold any emotion. All he saw the situation as was a teacher and a pupil being inappropriate with each other and that it was against the rules. Sue, however, sounded almost apologetic. Sorry even. She glazed her eyes over to Will for a second, and then at Rachel who was almost in tears once again, but then she bent her head and refused to look at either of them again. There was only one key person left to question. It was now Rachel's turn to come up to the bench. All eyes were brought on the brunette as she walked up to the stand; her dress was hiding her growing bump and she was thankful for it. Although she wanted to announce to the world that she was carrying the love of her life, Will Shuester's baby, she knew it would jeopardise and ruin everything.

She rose and smoothed out her skirt. Her legs felt like jell-O and her mouth was as dry and rough as sandpaper. As she walked up to the stand, she she tried to calm herself by breathing slowly and deeply; pretending she was about to sing for the court and not testify. She caught Quinn's eye, who smiled at her and winked at her; as a way of conveying her feelings and wishing good luck to Rachel, as well as telling her that she would be fine. Rachel pursed her lips and nodded, then looking over to Will. He was sat in between two armed policemen; he looked so small and scarred, but also held strength in his eyes as he mouthed to her 'I love you'.

The Bible was past to Rachel and she was instructed to place her hand on it and swear. She stared at the book for a moment, nibbling at her lip. Her eyebrows furrowed and her throat made a little squeak."Is everything all right Miss Berry?" The judge asked. Rachel turned her eyes up to him and nodded her head. "It's just...I hate to be a burden but I'm Jewish, your Honour. I don't feel comfortable swearing the New Testament. I'm sorry." There was a few whispers as the legal team went out of the room to bring back in a copy of the Old Testament. "Thank you, your Honour." Rachel said, usually when she thanked someone she would smile however she felt like even saying the word 'thank you' to the man was wrong.

The bailiff held the green copy of the Talmud to Rachel and asked her to place her hand on it so she could recite the oath. Her hand shook as she placed it on the holy book and she gulped, staring at the gold lettering. As a Jew, she had been taught never to place anything on top of the Holy Book, but she had to follow the court's orders. Besides, she thought she remembered one of her teachers at Chada (Jewish Sunday School) saying it was okay to clasp the book in their hands. Her eyes tried to find Will's once again, needing to see the strength in his eyes, but she was stopped by having the bailiff talk to her.

"Miss Berry, do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?" Rachel tore her eyes away from the man's tired, cold eyes and found Will's. As always they were warm and comforting, as he smiled at her and nodded his head. Telling her that it was okay and that, just like he had admitted before, she had nothing to hide. Rachel met the bailiff's eyes once again and inhaled deeply, trying to stop her voice from becoming too shaky. "I solemnly swear to tell tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me God." She spoke as calmly as possible, using her acting skills and fully putting them to the test as she stood in front of the court. The same prosecutor walked up to her after having a sip of his water.

"Miss Berry," he cleared his throat and looked up at her. His eyes were sympathetic and he kept his voice light. "Would you like to tell the court you own interpretation of the flight to New York?" Rachel looked him straight in the eye and after taking a quick deep breath she began to speak. "The events of which Will spoke of regarding the flight to New York were correct. I therefore have no more knowledge or input I could possibly provide." She spoke as if she had studied law herself, and the lawyer looked to be quite surprised by her tone, as well as her words. Just as he was about to ask her another question, Rachel continued to speak hers. "Sir, You Honour, the jury and the members of this court I cannot let Will take all the blame when half, if not most of it was my fault."

"Why do you say that?" The lawyer asked curious.

"Because I was the one that told him he could hold my hand, I was the one that sang to him and-"

"You sang to him?"

"Yes. I sang to him 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow'. It was almost whispered so not to alert any other passengers and I was trying to calm him down so I leant to his ear and sang to him."

"What happened next?" The lawyer asked, unfolding and folding his arms again.

"As previously stated by Will; it felt like the plane was coming down and he was terrified so he jumped and with the reaction rested his face on my chest."

"Between your breasts?"

"Well...not at..." She blushed at the memory but stopped her smile. "No I don't remember."

"I think you do, Rachel." The man asked raising his eyebrows. The young girl held her gaze at the man; thinking she could out stare him and make him continue with his questions. However, he was very good at staring and didn't shift his eyes once. Rachel sighed, admitting defeat. "All right he...he was sobbing on my chest and I was rubbing his back to sooth him and..okay he was positioned with his face in between my breasts, but that was only because of the angle I was sitting at!"

The crowd rumbled again and Rachel felt scared. She didn't think. Feeling it was coming to the end, even though the lawyer had more questions to ask, the brunette panicked. She leaned over the stand and tried to connect with the jury and the audience in court as best as she could. She would give everything she got; like she imagined she would on Broadway: her final monologue to a Broadway classic;

"Will Shuester is a good, honest man." She shouted, almost immediately silencing the court. "He would never take advantage of me, he would never take advantage of anyone, let alone someone he had known for years. Laddies and gentlemen, Judge Mcgarther, humble jury; in a few months, Will won't even be my teacher any more. He'll just be a teacher and I will just be a girl heading off to university. There is no law against that. I'm eighteen; therefore I am legally eligible to get married, have intercourse and date whoever I want; much to sadness of my doting parents, as they will have to realise once again that their little girl is growing up faster than they want me to. But I want Will. Not only do I want to date him, but I want to marry him and have a life with him and I intend to do that. I have always been spoilt by my fathers, but that comes with the fact I am an only child and they love me, but I know that you can't always get what you want. I can't just stomp my foot and pout and expect to be given everything in the world. But I don't want everything in the world. I only want Will. I have his love, his commitment and now all I need is him laying beside me at night and holding my hand by day. I just ask you, both the members of the jury and you Your Honour, to have compassion and find it within yourselves; within your hearts and romantic minds, to please let him be. Also, I ask for the members of this court, are here to purely watch this trial, to please not judge this wonderful man. To please find it also in your hearts to forgive him and myself, for offending your beliefs of what the 'correct form' of love is. I also ask everyone to look inside yourself and think of the guilt you feel, if you were told you were the cause of separating a man, who I know to be innocent, to be taken away from his family. Would you not find it cruel to separate a man from not only his love, his soul-mate, but also his unborn child?"

The room erupted into a loud rubble of commotion.

"Oh shit." Quinn said out loud. Fearing for the girl as she had just admitted to the entire court – and therefore world – that she was pregnant with her teacher's child. "This is not going to go well."

Judge Mcgather was banging on his gavel like no tomorrow.

Will had his face in his hands, silently cursing Rachel's rambling.

Sue and Principle Figgins' mouths were dropped open and the Glee Kids – bar Quinn – were staring at Will and Rachel with the widest wides and most confused expressions.

The lawyer stepped back a little from the revelation. He cleared his throat and pulled at his collar. "Miss Berry, did you just confess to the court that you are in fact pregnant?"

"Rachel!" Will cried out, standing from where he was. "Why did you do that? They're going to lock me away-"

"Mr Shuester sit down or you will be taken out of this courtroom!" Judge Mcgarther yelled. The policemen sat Will down again, although he was now completely on edge. "Miss Berry?" The lawyer tried to bring Rachel back so she could answer the question. She knew she had just handed Will his guilty charge to him on a plate and she was in complete shock with how she had acted.

"I'm sorry. I thought...I thought that it would make the jury show some compassion."

"There is no place for compassion, Miss Berry, when a man is clearly guilty."

"Yes you are right but Will Shuester is one man who is not guilty! He is only guilty of falling in love with me and giving me a child and safety and-"

"Miss Berry, please control yourself." The judge rolled his eyes and raised his gavel.

"No! No your Honour I will not! Will is innocent! I love him and he is innocent!"

"Miss Berry, are you admitting to the court that you are pregnant with Mr Shuester's child?"

"No!" Will shouted, tears streaming down his face.

"Quiet Mr Shuester!"

"Yes I am! And I'm not sorry that I'm carrying his baby! I love this baby and so does Will. He is going to do everything he can to protect us and I pray to God that-"

"God can't help Mr Shuester now." The judge told Rachel and indicated for her to be taken off the stand.

Clearly he was ready for Will to be told his fate.

Rachel struggled against the bailiff who tried to escort her back to her seat, but eventually she was taken from the stand. Everyone's eyes were on her stomach, trying to see if it was true. Due to her small frame and her dress, they couldn't tell. However they believed her: only an idiot would lie about being pregnant when the supposed father was about to be sent to jail.

Will brought back to the stand after a short break for the jury to discuss the case. During which, Rachel couldn't help but cling onto Quinn for support. She couldn't believe how foolish she had just been and wished that she could turn back the clock and stop herself from admitting to the whole world that she was pregnant. Quinn told her that everything would be okay, but as she looked to Rachel's fathers and saw them shrug their shoulders, shake their heads and sigh with defeat, she had a strong feeling that maybe everything wouldn't be okay.

"Mr Shuester," The Judge's voice bellowed, "You have been shown to have lied in court."

"I didn't mean to, I just-"

"You didn't mean to forget to mention the fact that you had sexual intercourse with your student and resulting in impregnating her?"

"I...just...I-"

"You just wanted to look innocent and deceive this court and its jury?"

"No! I just love Rachel so much and I'm sorry that people feel so strongly by all this, but I love her so much. And I love our baby. I just..." Will sniffled, trying to control himself. Rachel had stood up and was also crying, regretting that she had admitted to sleeping with Will. Her daddy pulled her back down by her arm and her dad cradled her; knowing the sentence was coming.

The lovers locked eyes and cried at each other. Both feeling terrible; if he had just told the whole truth then maybe he would be okay and if she had just kept quiet maybe he still would have been okay. Their fate now lay in the hands of jury and both parts of the couple felt sick.

Will tried to catch his breath as he whispered out to Rachel; "I'm sorry."

The head member of the jury stood up and cleared his throat. Here it was. The end. The moment.

"We the members of the jury have come to the conclusion that William Shuester is in fact," the whole courtroom held their breath in anticipation for the verdict. Rachel looked over to Will with tears already forming, her hands gripping at the bar in front of her. Will kept her gaze and tried to smile, but his lips couldn't form it. Instead he bit his lips to stop them quivering.

"Guilty."

The word echoed around the room, sounding like a large a bellowing thunderclap.

"No!" Rachel screeched, standing an attempting to run to Will. He had burst into tears, covering his mouth with his hand trying to hide the sobs coming from him. "You can't put him jail! You can't! I'm a senior! I'll be graduating soon, then he won't be my teacher any more! Please! Have compassion!" Rachel begged, sobbing and almost collapsing to the floor. Quinn had rushed over to her and with the held of her fathers, was holding her and soothing her.

The judge was banging his gravel, trying to calm the court. Rachel's fathers were trying to either sit Rachel down or get her out of the courtroom as she was continuously screaming like a mad woman; proclaiming Will's innocence.

"Mr William Shuester I here by sentence you to five years in imprisonment and your rights as an educator to be taken away from you with immediate affect, as which complies with the Ohio Rev. Code, Section. 2907.03 for charges of sexual battery. "

Outside the court the state's media was snapping photographs and talking into cameras as Will was being lead towards the police car that was to take him to Allen County Jail.

Rachel, her fathers and Quinn weren't long behind him. As soon as Rachel saw Will, she broke free of their grasps and ran towards him.

"Will!" She cried. Will stopped walking, almost sending the cops to fall over and threw his head back. "Rachel!" He burst into tears, wanting her to stay away but also wanting to hold her in his arms. "They're wrong!" She screamed as she got close to him, suddenly being held back by more policemen. She ignored them and tried to reach out to Will. Even though he was handcuffed, he too tried to reach for her. "They're wrong! You're innocent! You're innocent!"

"I know! I know Rach, please don't cry." Will said, trying to smile through his own tears.

"Will how could they? You're innocent. We didn't do anything wrong, nothing we did was wrong!"

"I know, I know."

"We love each other? How can our love be wrong? It's not, it's not!"

"I know, I know!" Will couldn't stop himself but sob as he listened to Rachel. He tried to strain himself away from the police officers who was trying to get him inside the police car. "We'll fight this. We will. I'll appeal, I'll get everyone to sign a petition." Rachel told him; her fathers taking the places of the policemen who had previously been restraining her. "I love you Rachel!" Will called from inside the car before it closed him up. "I love you too Will!"

"Take care of our baby!" She heard him cry out.

"I will! I love you Will! I love you!"

As she watched the car drive away she screamed as the jury made their way out of the court, followed by other members who were in the trial. "You're animals! Heartless animals, separating a man from his child! By the time he gets out of jail his child won't know him! You've ruined three lives; Will's, mine and our baby's! I hate you, I hate you all!" As she collapsed from the screaming and the emotions, Quinn held her in her arms, being dragged down by the girl and she rocked her back and forth, cooing into her ear.

The news papers and television crews were enjoying the show, knowing that this trial had been the talk of the whole state, the whole country, and now they had the perfect pictures to accompany the many separate articles that were going to be written.

Puck, Finn and the other guys tried to beat the journalists and Quinn ushered Rachel into her car, trying to shield her and give her some privacy. The whole car journey was filled with Rachel's cries and Quinn even shed her own tear, trying suppress her own sadness at her favourite teacher's sentence.

After what felt like forever, Quinn pulled up by the park that – unknown to her – was Rachel and Will's sanctuary.

"Maybe you shouldn't have told them all you were pregnant Rach-"

"Do you not think I don't know that now Quinn?" She snapped. "God! I'm so stupid!"

"You're not stupid."

"I just really thought that playing on their guilt would make them not find him guilty!"

"When in actual fact it just gave them the evidence and the fuel to sentence him."

"I thought you were supposed to make me feel better?" Rachel sobbed angrily.

"I'm tying, but I'm also being realistic."

"Will you take me home now please, I just want to sleep this day away and hopefully wake up finding that this has all just been the worst nightmare of my life." Rachel shuddered as she felt Quinn help her up and take her over to her car.

The two drove away in silence this time and the rest of the evening Rachel was silent, as she went straight to her room and slept. Not even bothering to get unchanged.


	16. A Little Help From My Friends

**Gabbymadd22, this one is for you! I said this chapter was dedicated to you, and it is!**

**It's only short and not written well, but I want to get back to writing the juicy stuff!**

**Chapter Fifteen**

**A Little Help From My Friends**

"We need to get Mr Shue out of jail." Quinn threw her fist down on the lunch table.

Everyone in the Glee Club was sat around – everyone bar Rachel, who hadn't left her room, let alone her house, in two weeks. Quinn and her fathers both feared that her grades would slip, and with finals being so close, they knew they had to try and get her out of her depressed state. She wouldn't talk, wouldn't eat, wouldn't sing. She only slept, drank water and showered. Or, at least it sounded like she showered whenever either or her fathers or Quinn would go and check up on her. In reality, she was just drowning out the sound of her tears.

Quinn had a plan. Her main priority was Rachel. She had developed feelings for the girl, not really romantic ones as such as she was till with Finn but she definitely felt closer to the girl and loved her on some level. That being said, she had cared about her and wouldn't allow herself to let her grades slip, and miss her chance at going to collage. The only way to get Rachel's dream of going to collage and getting a degree and ending up Broadway, was to get her back to school and the only way to get back to school was if Mr Shuester – she hadn't quite got used to calling him Will – out of jail.

"What can we do Quinn?" Mercedes asked. Because of Mr Shuester's absence, Glee Club had obviously been cancelled and without their star singer, there was not much point in trying to run it themselves. Everyone was suffering from withdrawal symptoms and the soul diva was prepared to do anything. "Yeah Quinn, what can we do? We're just kids!" Artie said, shrugging, "And I'm not much help in this stupid thing." He cursed, glaring at the wheels he was sat in.

The blonde looked at each member of the Glee Club individually and then, a spark went off in her head. She smiled and the glint in her eye brightened.

"You're right Artie, we are kids. But we can do something. We have it in our power to change Mr Shuester's life. And Rachel's and their baby's." She told them, trying to spur them on.

"I still can't believe Rachel's pregnant." Finn mumbled, shaking his head. Quinn shot him a look and then climbed onto the table and addressed the whole school.

"Attention adolescents of Mckinley High School!" She yelled at the top of her voice. Hardly anyone looked up; she was no longer Quinn Bee of the school and so she looked down to Santana and Brittany. The two girls nodded at each other and Brittany yelled louder than Quinn; "Everybody listen up!" Followed by Santana screaming like she had never screamed before in her life; with such a raw passion and hatred. "Listen up you hijos de putas! My girl Quinn is talking and if you don't shut it within the next second I'm going to go all Lima Heights Adjacent on you!" That shut the cafeteria up and Quinn had everyone's attention.

"Will Shuester is an innocent man-"

"He got into the Berry Loser's pants! How innocent is that?" One of the jocks heckled.

"He fell in love and I urge you all to come with us, the Glee Club, and stand outside the court and protest for his release!"

"No way!" Another jock yelled.

"Yeah, not even if you slept with me, post-preggo!" The other jock laughed.

Quinn blushed and felt herself deflate; not at all like the old Quinn. Santana then took Quinn's place on the table. "Listen up, if y'all don't come down to the courthouse I swear to God that I am going to personally kick all of your asses, till you can't sit! Permanently."

Quinn looked around the cafeteria; it looked as if Santana's words connected with the students' brains, because they all of a sudden started chanting – being lead by Brittany - "Free Shue!"

At first, they thought she was yelling 'Free Shoes' but they caught on. Soon, the school was chanting and pumping their firsts in the air. "All right," Quinn shouted above the noise, "Class is cancelled for the rest of the day but we need everyone to make dozens of plaques and posters, telling the world of Mr Shuester's innocence!" She barked at everyone her orders, and the bell rang with a cheer as everyone scurried away – even the jocks – to go ahead and follow her command.

"Er Quinn," Finn brought his girlfriend down and placed her on the ground. "How did you make Figgins agree to cancelling class?" Quinn raised her eyebrow at her clueless boyfriend and kissed his cheek. "Oh Finn, you're so sweet." Before darting off and chanting with the crowd.

Brittany and Santana broke away from the mass of students and burst into Sue's office.

"Well if it isn't Brittana." She smirked, looking up from her desk. The two girls looked at each other. "A combination of your names; you're the hottest couple in school according to Jacob Ben Israel's blog, and so I thought I'd come up with a name for you two." Santana rolled her eyes and marched up to Sue's desk.

"Listen Coach, it's your fault that Mr Shuester is in jail-"

"Oh I don't think so, I wasn't the one who slept with Berry-"

"Oh but you were the one to tell Figgins and cause Shue's arrest." The Latina snarled.

"What's your point bubble boobs?"

"My point is that you have connections, and you are going to get on the phone to every news station to get their asses down to the courthouse and publicise Mr Shuester's innocence."

"Or what?" Sue snarled back. Santana leaned leaned into Sue's personal space and whispered in her ear; "Or I tell the school board how you've been helping yourself with the school's extra learning program to buy more equiptment for the Cheerios."

"You have no proof." Santana stood back up, crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows at the blonde. "You want a bet?"

A few moments of silence fell around the women, until Sue sighed and gave up. "Fine. I'll call them." Sue caved in.

"Not Fox." Brittany said.

"Why not Fox?" Santana asked, curiously.

"Because foxes eat bunnies and bunnies are cute." Brittany shrugged. Sue rolled her eyes and picked up the phone to dial the first news station. Santana walked over to Brittany and wrapped her arm around her shoulder. "Britt, if I promise that no bunnies will get hurt by Fox, then will you allow them to come to our demonstration?"

"Our demonstration of what? Because I didn't think you were comfortable with showing public displays of affection yet? Although I would totally like to give you sweet lady kisses in the halls-"

"No B," Santana stopped her before Sue heard any more, "I mean our protest."

"Oh okay. As long as you promise." Santana held out her pinkie and waited for Brittany to take it.  
>"I promise Brit." She smiled and brought the dancer into a hug.<p>

"Well that's just beautiful Brittana," Sue said, causing the girls to separate, "now could you two make out somewhere else, although I don't have a problem with lesbians, I have just eaten lunch." 

Down at the courthouse at five pm, the protest was in full swing by all of the students from the school and even a few from Dalton Academy.

They all held banners and posters, screaming and shouting, dancing around and blaring through megaphones their chants – with Satana chanting in her native tongue.

"Free Will Shuester! Free Will Shuester!"

"Shuester is innocent!"

"Señor Shuester es inocente!"

"Free Shue! Free Shue!"

"An innocent man is in jail!"

Brittany grabbed a megaphone and get Finn to lift her up on his shoulders;

"Babies need their daddies! Let Mr Shue have his baby and let his baby have Mr Shue!" She yelled, and got another chant going within another crowd; "Let Shue have his baby!"

"Free Will Shuester! Free Will Shuester!"

"Shuester is innocent!"

"Señor Shuester es inocente!"

"Free Shue! Free Shue!"

"An innocent man is in jail!"

Mercedes climbed onto a car and started a soul song going;

"Bring back! Bring back! Oh please back Shuester to Glee, to Glee!"

Artie was wheeling himself up and down the length of the courthouse ramps rapping;

"Shue and Rach, they fell in love. They aint hurtin' nobody, but their hearts are breakin'! Heal the pain and release the man to his girl! How would you like it if somebody you love was taken away from yo'? They love each other and that's all that matters. I tell you something else, their love is purer than the wings of a dove!"

Puck and Mike joined in too riding on their skateboards wearing 'Free Shue' t-shirts;

"Shue and Rach, they fell in love. They aint hurtin' nobody, but their hearts are breakin'! Heal the pain and release the man to his girl! How would you like it if somebody you love was taken away from yo'? They love each other and that's all that matters. I tell you something else, their love is purer than the wings of a dove!"

"Free Will Shuester! Free Will Shuester!"

"Shuester is innocent!"

"Señor Shuester es inocente!"

"Free Shue! Free Shue!"

"An innocent man is in jail!"

"Free Will Shuester! Free Will Shuester!"

"Shuester is innocent!"

"Señor Shuester es inocente!"

"Free Shue! Free Shue!"

"An innocent man is in jail!"

Quinn stood on top of a large news van and held her own version of Sue's megaphone and began speaking into it. "Laddies and gentlemen, news people and students; Will Shuester is an innocent man who's only crime was falling in love! Our Glee Club needs him! Our school needs him but Rachel and their baby need him! He does not deserve to be in jail, love is love and there's nothing anyone can do about it: not the law, not the judges and lawyers and jury, not even God can stop love! Free our Shue!" She yelled, and the crowd began chanting the new slogan;

"Free our Shue! Free our Shue! Free our Shue! Free our Shue!"

That night, after the main bulk of the news had been read out, Sue spoke to the nation. Well, the population of Ohio, but she hoped it would go nationwide within the next few hours.

"Listen up Ohio, I Coach Sue Sylvester have an announcement to make. A few weeks ago I appeared in court and, where I didn't directly do anything wrong, I believe – with the help of my favourite and only Cheerio couple, Santana Lopez and Brittany S. Pierce – I have put an innocent man in jail. I have separated him from his fiancée and I have discovered, that by doing that I have also separated him from his unborn baby. Yes, Ohio, I am talking about Will Shuester, the man who has nearly had a year long relationship with student Rachel Berry. Now I know what you're probably thinking oh good simpletons of Ohio, the man deserves to rot in jail for taking advantage of a student. And, normally I would agree with you all. However, it has come to my attention that they are in face in love. True love; as true as the sky is blue and as true that I am a full blown champion. Now, I look into this camera Ohio residents and I'm trying to stare into your prejudice hearts to make my point: if we allow a same sex couple, like my two Cheerios Santana Lopez and Brittany S Pierce to be together freely – all be it they are kids but still – and we let people marry inanimate objects because they claim to have some sort of illness that doesn't make them attracted to people, then why can't we let this young couple be? If they love each other, then why not? Love is love, Ohio and we gotta embrace the love in all it's forms." She finished off her little rant by performing her catch phrase and gesture; "And that's how Sue Sees it."

The Glee Kids had been huddled around the television at Quinn's watching the report. Their protest had been shown on the news at Ohio's biggest news story. They had caught the attention of the news crews and the judge; he told them that his decision was final but there was no way they were stopping their campaign of innocence.

"I can't believe Coach Sylvester just outed us on television." Santana blushed, feeling a cross between mortified and terrified. But, she couldn't think about that, not when the club had bigger problems. They're protest went well and they even told Figgins they would be going back to school until he convinced the court to let Mr Shuester go. Brittany rested her head on Santana's shoulder and they all tried to think of another way to get Mr Shuester out.

Quinn had an idea. It had been staring at her in the face. The only way to get Will out, would be to have him and Rachel appeal together. But first, she needed Rachel out of her room.


	17. Caving In

Very, very, very, very sorry that this has taken so long to publish. Serious case of writer's block! You know where you know what to put you just don't know how? Anyway, hopefully the next chapter won't take as long. However, it is my eighteenth on Monday (Halloween, whoop, whoop) and so my folks and I are celebrating the whole weekend, but rest assured I will get some writing done – in between homework of course – and give you al an update!

**Chapter Sixteen**

**Caving In**

Three months. That's how long she had been campaigning for. Three long months.

She hadn't been attending school much and if she did, she would be in for a maximum of one hour just to collect work and then proceed to go home. The stares she received and the whispers she heard were all too much one day, and she made the choice that she wouldn't be going back to the school: not without Will.

Her bump was definitely showing now, and she was exhausted. At five months, she now definitely started to look pregnant. Even with her petite frame, everyone who saw her could see that she was expecting.

When she would walk by her fathers in her home, she was sure that they could see her stomach before they saw anything else – of course they would tell her that she really wasn't that big.

(They would, however, never tell her just how dangerously small they thought she was, however they remembered Shelby and how small she was carrying Rachel, so they put their fears on Rachel's size to one side).

Not only was her stomach growing, but all other aches and pains were growing too. Her feet hurt, her back ached, all her joints were sore and her breasts sometimes just killed her! Some days she just wished for it all to end; the pain and the constant want for Will.

At one of her lowest, saddest points, the little pregnant brunette was positive that all of her pain was some form of payback. Revenge or something strange and unfair along those lines, that she was being punished for falling in love with Will and now having his baby. Of course, it was completely irrational; that someone was controlling the amount of pain she was feeling was impossible. Still, it didn't help that if she did leave the house when it was crowded that some members of a local church congregation – who had obviously read about and knew the 'whole' story – they would yell abuse at her and would make her feel worse about herself and her situation.

This brought in a whole line of new problems for mental state. Not just her physical pains were showing, but her emotional pain was worse. It wasn't just the hormones that was making cry constantly. Pure and simple; she missed Will.

She was exhausted with being awake at night and not being able to sleep. Not only did the thought of Will in a cell surrounded by guilty criminals, but he was the star of her dreams. Every night she dreamt of him and only him. His eyes would look straight into hers and his lips would feel so soft against hers, his protective arms would wrap around her and hold her tight. More often than not, she would wake up crying and shaking, screaming for him. More often or not, it took her dads' hours – yes, hours – to get her back to sleep. The only way they could was by rocking her and forcing hot chocolate down her throat; the only beverage they knew to get Rachel off to sleep.

Needless to say, the whole family was suffering. Hiram and Leroy were late for work most days and were too tired to focus. That was on the days they did go. They were increasingly concerned for their little girl. At first, they both thought she just needed some space to process everything; the trial, the verdict, options for their (being Will's and the baby's as well as her own) future, the baby itself and the parental most important factor her finals that would slowly be approaching at the end of the spring. Leroy had called up her school and told the receptionist that Rachel wouldn't be in school for the week. Then, after that week, they knew that they couldn't leave her alone. After coming home from work, they saw that the contents of the fridge and cupboards were exactly the same as when they left. That didn't mean she wasn't eating, she wouldn't do that, it just meant she wasn't eating enough.

Numerous times they tried to talk to her about it, but she just stared at them refusing to talk or got angry and threw things, ending the evening by her crying herself to sleep. They tried to get her to go into school after the weekend. Of course, she didn't wake up at her usual time of six, but didn't wake up at seven and when it got to eight, they knew she wouldn't be going in. After the third week both men had been taking turns to come home and look after her. Finally, they came to the point where neither of them could leave her. They'd called their offices and told them the situation, Leroy not taking no for an answer and slamming the phone down on his boss. Hiram's, however, was a lot more comforting – perhaps because she was a woman – and told him to take as long as he needed.

She had to talk to someone about how she was feeling; of course she missed Will, but by refusing to leave her room was just getting too difficult. Whenever she watched a movie or a commercial came on with smiling couples and happy families, she just thought about her own situation and how Will should be there with her; touching and kissing her stomach, whispering and singing to their baby, crouching on his knees and smiling up at Rachel. The should lie in bed together and discuss names and paint for the nursery, take strolls hand in hand together and Will should be holding her hair back whenever she was sick and rubbing soothing circles on her lower back to ease the twinges she occasionally felt. He should be opening doors for her, scolding her for trying to do something as simple as getting a glass of water by herself. Overall, they should be allowed to enjoy her pregnancy – her first ever pregnancy – with the man she loved more than anything. They should be allowed to act like any other expecting pair of parents; and it killed her each day knowing that Will would be thinking the same thing, that he was missing out on stroking her stomach waiting anxiously to feel the flutters of their baby moving inside her. He was missing so many important moments and as a consequence, so was she as she wouldn't allow herself to enjoy her pregnancy. As she lay is bed though, she would hold her swollen stomach and whisper her apologies and cry, telling their baby over and over how much she loved Tad-Penny.

Even with all the pain she was feeling, somehow Rachel kept her grades up. She wouldn't go to school and chose to stay in bed, reading and doing her school work there. Quinn had managed to get the teachers to send home her work and she would even go as far as getting members of the AV Club to voice record, if not, film Rachel's lessons. Every lesson, bar Spanish. No one wanted to upset the brunette any more by even mentioning the fact that they had a sub who was actually a native Spanish speaker and the whole class was somehow improving.

Upsetting Rachel was the last thing anyone wanted to do. Everyone only started to get really concerned when she stopped visitors from coming to the house.

After school, a different member of the Glee Club would come and talk with Rachel – mostly about classes and offering their support – but when the day finally came where she screamed at Finn and Puck, who were delivering food from Finn's mom and homework from Rachel lessons, they knew it was time for action.

As Quinn arrived at Rachel's house, Hiram and Leroy greeted her with pale faces and expressions that just screamed at Quinn that there was something wrong.

"What's happened?" Quinn asked, wide eyed and breath becoming erratic. She pushed past the two men and began to climb the stairs, but was stopped by Leroy running up to her and placing his hand on her shoulder. Quinn turned her head to look at him and furrowed her eyebrows. She felt him sigh and deflate and took her cue to follow him back down the stairs and sit with them in the family room.

Once sat down, two men looked at each other. Hiram pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes closed, clearly not wanting to cry. Leroy rubbed his back and kissed his temple, sitting the shorter man down. "Quinn, we're just so worried." He sobbed, still trying to keep himself together. Leroy sat on the opposite side of Quinn; wanting to comfort his husband but also knowing he had to tell Quinn their fears. Quinn kept her gaze on Rachel's daddy as he managed to calm himself down, wiping his nose in his husband's hanky once he handed it to him. As he sat up, Quinn could see just how tired both men were. "Quinn, she won't leave her room." Leroy sighed. The blonde nodded her head slowly. "I know." She replied quietly. "That's why we've been bringing her work."

"And we appreciate that," Leroy told her, cupping her hand, "But it's got worse."

"Worse?" Quinn's voice was shaky as she repeated the word. "How?"

"She won't leave her room, not even to.." He looked over at Hiram, who had begun to cry once again. He leaned across Quinn and squeezed his knee. Hiram immediately took hold of his hand and held on for all his life. "She's not singing!" He cried, spluttering tears and saliva all over Quinn. The girl didn't care about, she just got up and allowed the two men to console each other.

"She's so depressed about Will and all the garbage that's been going on...She's never been like this! Whenever life got her down she always sang. Always. Everyday! Now, all she does is cry. Cry, cry, cry and I am sick of hearing her cry and be powerless to stop it!" He cried harder, now Leroy shed a tear. He had been trying to be the brave one, but it wasn't working. "She just misses Will so much. No girl should have to have this much heart brake so young. And, no pregnant woman should go to bed without the father of her child, the love of her life, not wrapping their arms around her and talking about their baby! It's just not fair!" He sounded angry and ferocious, repeating, "It's not fair!", until his words were nothing more than whimpers.

Heartbroken at hearing Rachel's daddy's story, the blonde sat back down and gave the short, blubbering man an hug. "I'll talk to her," she whispered, against his head, planting a quick, comforting kiss to his bald patch, "I promise, I will get her to sing again. I promise."

Quinn composed herself. She had been stood outside of Rachel's door, staring at the gold star placed on it. She stared at it as if she were staring at God; asking it/Him for strength. Holding on the little golden cross that hung around her neck, she sent a silent but just as powerful as spoken prayer up to the real All Mighty and cautiously entered the room.

The sight in front of her broke her heart once more. It seemed like every time she thought of Rachel those pieces of her heart she thought had been glued back together, just shattered once more into even more tiny pieces. Seeing her now; crawled up into a ball and sniffling quietly into her pillow, soaking it, made Quinn want to cry and scoop the little diva up and rock her like she was a baby herself until she was better. Desperately she wanted to make it better.

Make her forget all the pain.

Slowly and softly, Quinn sat on the bed and did just that; she scooped up the bundle and placed her on her lap. Rubbing circles on the girl's lower back, kissing the top of her head and rocking her.

"It's not fair!" Rachel sobbed, clutching tightly onto the collar of Quinn's dress.

"I know," Quinn sighed, planting a lingering kiss to Rachel's head and closed her eyes, "I know."

"He should be here! I know that he isn't dead or anything or fighting a war, and my heart goes out to those women who's husbands are dead or in wars and are pregnant too, but at least those men are seen as heroes and not paedophiles! Which is exactly what everyone thinks Will is but he's not, Quinn, he's not!" She cried louder, shouting almost. The top of Quinn's dress was pretty much saturated, but she didn't care. She just rocked the brunette more. "I know, I know. But Rach he-"

"I know he's not but I'm just so angry that no one else can see that he's not! He shouldn't be in there; sitting in some small, dirty, rat infested cell with God only knows what type of vermin!"

"Rach," Quinn could see she was becoming more dramatic and that meant she was getting more worked up and that was not good for her or the baby, "you need to-"

"He doesn't belong there! He's a good man! He's kind and warm and gentle and loving and-"

"Breath Rachel!" Quinn ordered; trying to snap Rachel out of her ramble but still trying to be gentle. The little pregnant scared brunette, whimpered softly. "I miss him so much."

"I know Rachel." Her heart broke once more. "I know you do." She gently pulled Rachel off of her and kissed her forehead. "I know you miss him," she said quietly, "I know you do." Sniffling softly, Rachel picked up Quinn's hand, looking her in the eyes the whole time, and placed it lightly on her stomach, allowing for Quinn to put the needed pressure on. "His baby misses him too." She whispered, biting her lip and spilling one last tear.

The sight of the broken girl was almost becoming too much. Quinn continued to hold her against her, her thumb lightly stroking her stomach and willing for the baby inside of Rachel to move. She wanted to feel the baby flutter, that way she could tell Rachel that everything was going to be okay. That their baby wasn't suffering or was sad about everything happening. But, after what felt like hours, she felt no movement. Only the gentle rises and falls caused by Rachel breathing.

Being her friend, one of her closest friends, Quinn couldn't take it any more. Because of that judge, Rachel's life and her baby's was becoming unbareable. She sat Rachel up again, this time sliding her onto the soft duvet of her bed but she held her face with one hand and kept hold of Rachel's stomach with the other. Looking right into the quivering brunette's eyes, she gave her hopefully the best pep talk she would ever have to give anyone.

"Rachel, listen to me. You can either stay here in bed and block the whole world out, try and forget everything and raise your baby without Will," she paused briefly to breath and then moved her hand from Rachel's cheek and placed it on her forearm. She missed the warmth of her cheek, but felt she had to knock some sense into the girl, and by holding her cheek wasn't going to do justice. "Or you can fight for him!" She grinned widely and wrinkled her nose, "Whatever happened to the Rachel Berry I love who would fight for everything she wanted and wouldn't let anything stand in her way, no matter what the obstacles? Where is that brave girl..no, that brave young woman who turned a blind eye to slushie facials and the names all the other garbage she was subjected to?" She took both of her hands and placed them around Rachel's neck and brought her face close to hers. Kissing her forehead one last time, scrunching her eyes together and trying to tell Rachel through the kiss that she needed her and wanted her to get better again, but also tell her that she wasn't alone. No matter what, she wasn't alone. Quinn then released her lips from the girl's forehead and then sighed as she placed her now clammy hands on Rachel's bump. "Where is the woman, who this little baby in here, is going to grow up and say 'I am so proud of my mommy because not only is she the best mother in the whole existence, but she loves my daddy and me so much that she fought to keep us all together.'" Quinn could see a small smile playing with the corners of Rachel's mouth. Seeing it made Quinn smile and she bent down lower and kissed Rachel's bump softly. Bringing her eyes back up to Rachel and swiped a stray hair away from the singer's beautiful face, tucking it behind her ear.

Touched by Quinn's words and subtle actions, the ones she dreamt Will of doing, Rachel watched Quinn. Counting all the different colours in her eyes; green, hazel, gold, honey, brown, blue...it was as if an artist just couldn't make up her mind what colour to paint Quinn's eyes and so used all of them. "Autumn." She smiled, speaking barely above a whisper. Quinn smiled too, but frowned at the girl's bizarre comment. "What?" She giggled, stroking Rachel's fingers with her own. Rachel nodded towards Quinn's eyes as best as she could. "Your eyes; they remind me of Autumn." Quinn smiled at the comment and bit her lip at the blush that slowly crept onto both their faces. "Well maybe that's what you should call your baby, if she's a girl of course, after my eyes: Autumn Berry!" She giggled once again, and didn't stop when she heard Rachel chuckle too. She shook her head and looked down at her stomach. Her eyebrows furrowed and she bit her own lip. "We haven't even discussed names." Rachel told Quinn quietly, "But I don't think Autumn would work." "Why not? She's going to be born in the Fall right?"

"Yeah but...I don't know." Rachel shrugged, shaking free one of her hands and rubbing her bump. "Do you have a name in mind?" Quinn asked, curious as to whether she would name her baby from a Broadway show or if she would give the baby a non musical name. However, being the child of Rachel 'I'm a Star' Berry and Mr 'I love to rap even though I can't' Shuester she couldn't be too sure. Again Rachel shrugged. "I don't know. I might. We've never really thought about it."

"You mean you haven't talked about it. You've definitely thought about it."  
>"How do you know?"<p>

"Because Rach, you're pregnant and you're a girl!" Quinn smirked, "It's what we do! That's why we name our teddy bears and change them constantly. Come on, I know you must have a few names in mind?" She raised her eyebrows at Rachel, wanting her to tell her the names and for herself to be the first person – probably a little selfishly – to know the ideas and the possible name for the baby of the year. Another smile fell on Rachel's face. "Well I've had a few-"

"Ah ha!" Quinn announced triumphantly, causing Rachel to giggle.

"But, I'm not going to tell you Fabray! Because it has to be a secret."

"Fine." The blonde sulked and then pulled Rachel back onto her knee.

She rocked Rachel again, having seen the change in her face and eyes. The brunette was thinking, and Quinn was ninety nine percent sure that she was thinking of Will.

"You love me?" Rachel blurted. Quinn stopped her rocking and her eyes widened bigger than they had ever gone. Her cheeks blushed and resembled large, fully ripe tomatoes. She then smiled and rolled her eyes, resting her hands on Rachel's bump, in response Rachel placed her own hands on top of Quinn's and they both stroked her tummy. "Not as much as Mr Shuester, but yes, I love you Rachel." Quinn confessed. Sure, she had been mean to Rachel throughout most of her high school life, but she was her friend now. Her best friend. And so it was only natural for her to love Rachel. She felt the brunette squeeze her hand, and, although she couldn't see, she knew she was smiling.

"Now, what's the line from that song in the Wizard of Oz?" Quinn asked, resting her chin on Rachel's shoulder. "I don't know which song you mean, Quinn." Rachel replied, thinking off each song in the musical and trying to figure out which one she was referring to. "Sure you do, oh I remember. 'Wake up you sleepyhead, rub your eyes, get out of that bed'!" Quinn then proceeded to tickle Rachel and she nearly sprang out of Quinn's arms but the blonde held her close and refused to let her go. Tickling her ribs, under her armpits, her feet and then finally her stomach, so the baby could join in. The whole time the room was filled with the second most beautiful sound Quinn had ever heard Rachel make; laughter.

"Okay, okay I'm getting up!" Rachel's giggles subsided and she climbed off the bed and threw open her bedroom window to let some air in. Quinn sat up, "You bet your sweet voice you are!"

"Thank you Quinn." Rachel thanked sincerely, standing next to the bed and looking down on Quinn. "For what?" The blonde asked. Rachel then picked up the blonde's hand and swung it in the air. "For giving me the strength to carry on." She told her, her face serious yet filled with happiness at the same time. "I love you too Quinn, you're the best friend I've ever had."

"You're welcome Rach." Quinn smiled.

The two shared a moment and Quinn was so proud – and ecstatic – that she was the one to get Rachel Berry back to her old self.

"Now, come on let's see if we can get your baby daddy out of jail." She said, jumping off the bed and dragging Rachel to the bedroom door. "Since when did you talk like Santana and Lauren?" Rachel giggled, happily being dragged out of her own room by her best friend and then being hauled through the house. "I don't know, it just kind of slipped out." Quinn shrugged as they left the room. "Well let it slip back in, I don't like it when you talk like that. That sort of vocabulary doesn't suit you; quite frankly Quinn you are not gangster or 'from the hood' material. To be honest, you are definitely more débutante than hip hop chick, and I wouldn't want you any other way. And neither would your niece."

"There's the adorable babbling Rachel that I love!" Quinn said as they came to the last step. "Wait," Quinn froze and then turned to face Rachel, still holding her hand. "Niece?"

"Or nephew, I don't know the-"

"What are you talking about?"

"I just assumed that once the baby is born that you could be considered an aunt. I understand if that's too weird for you, I mean we're not related in anyway and it might make you think of Beth and make you upset and-"

"Rachel, stop." She cupped Rachel's cheeks in her hands and looked into amazing chocolate brown eyes once again. "I would love to be Baby Berry's chief aunt." She kissed her forehead again and then dropped to the floor and kissed the bump. "Thank you." Rachel whispered, afraid she would begin to cry again.

"So come on, let's get going." Quinn cleared her throat and took Rachel's slip on ballet pumps from the door and proceeded to help her slip them on her feet. "Where?" Rachel asked, complying to Quinn's silent command and kind helpful action of helping her put her shoes on. "To the courthouse and you're going to demand to have an appeal hearing."

"I'll need a lawyer and I can't afford one." Rachel began to protest.

"Don't worry about it; I'm sure you won't need one. Just defend yourself. It can't hurt."

"I guess you're right." Rachel sighed, biting her lip again.

Just as they were about to leave the house, Quinn felt Rachel hesitate; she was afraid of the talks and the looks and Quinn understood. She got back on the other side of the threshold and took hold of Rachel's other hand as she stood next to her. "And Rach, you're not alone." She bent herself a little lower and kissed her cheek. "I'm here for you."

"Thank you Quinn. You truly are my best friend."

Hand in hand, they left the Berry house and went straight to the court to order an appeal form and hopefully start the process of getting Will out of jail.

On the Monday of her officially entering her six month of pregnancy, Rachel walked through the halls of Micknley High; head held as high as her neck would allow. One hand held lovingly on her stomach and the other clasped in Quinn's, as she too walked proudly through the halls, accompanying the little diva to all her classes.

Santana and Puck – consequently also Brittany – were never far behind, glaring and snarling at anyone who tried to tease Rachel. Puck tackled the jocks, literally as well as figuratively. Even though Rachel was pregnant, they still wanted to slushie her. Puck was quick to react on one particular occasion, running up to the guy and punching him in the face, allowing the cold blocks of crushed ice and gloopy syrup fall to the floor and ruin his new white sneekers. Quinn, Brittany and Santana were also on the case for keeping the Cheerios away from Rachel.

Rachel was virtually indestructible with her new bodyguards. At lunch and in class they would form a protective barrier around her. Artie even gave her the nickname 'President Berry' and Kurt started drawing outfits up for 'The President' and 'First Lady of Mckinley High' – being Quinn, since the blonde would turn into some form of beast of lioness whenever she saw or heard someone being mean either to or about Rachel.

However, much to everyone's persistence at keeping Rachel safe from the slushies and the names, there were still problems.

Even with Quinn by her side, and the entire Glee Club behind her, for Rachel school was her living nightmare. The endless taunting and teasing, now not just because of who she was 'a loser' but now because of what she had done and what she was continuing to do: having a relationship with a teacher and having his baby.

"What you're doing is wrong." A small group of girls; wearing white long sleeved button up shirts, red sweater-vests, black skirts that came down past their knees, black tight and black shoes, came up to Rachel as she was sorting her books out for er next class at her lesson.

They were the religious girls of the 'holier than thou' girls of the school. Rachel had seen them with their parents near the church once as she drove past them on a Sunday. The father of one of them shook his fist at her for driving on the day of rest, and started to yell that she should be praying not driving. Of course, then he found out she was Jewish and had his daughter slip a few flyers about Jesus in her locker. The only reason they weren't at the religious school was because their parents all thought it would be a good idea for their daughters to show the other students of Ohio what it is to be a good Christian. Amazingly, they didn't get teased as much, and if they did they simply told the bullies they would pray for them.

"Excuse me?" Rachel asked, sarcastically and trying to turn away. They surrounded her like a swarm of bees. The leader of the group – Mary, funny enough – stepped forward and frowned at her. "You may certainly not be excused. What you have done, Miss Berry, is completely wrong. Not only in the eye of the law but in the eyes of the ultimate law; the eyes and law of God and our Saviour and Lord, Jesus Christ." Rachel scowled at the girls; although she still had about eight minutes left until she had to go to her next class, she would still use that as an excuse to get away from the preachers. "Well I'm sorry you feel that way," she tried to move away again, but they had encircled her, pushed her up against the lockers. "Do you not see Rachel, that you are sinning?"

"We are all sinners, girls. Not even God is perfect-"

"Hold your tongue!" Mary screeched, offended by Rachel's blatant blaspheme. "The Lord and His Son, Jesus Christ are perfect, hence why we worship him. I know for a fact that your religion teaches that the Lord is perfect also, so do not blame the Lord." Rachel just shook her head, scowling deeper and harder, unsure what to say. She wished Quinn would hurry and rescue her. No. She wished Will would come and rescue her, but that was near impossible.

Mary relaxed her shoulders and calmed her voice. "However, in answer to you previous question I shall explain to you your sins, as the Lord said that we must teach the ignorant man to become wise," she cleared her throat, as if she was about to tell a ground breaking speech to the nation. "You started a relationship with a man, not a boy a man and had sexual intercourse with him before marriage. That is where the eyes of the Lord is concerned; you are no longer pure, Rachel and because I presume that is an engagement ring you are wearing," Rachel looked down at the sparkling piece of hope. She had begun to wear it since the trial and now never wanted to take it off. "That you will be getting married. Well Rachel, only virgins are to wear white." Rachel had had enough of her and she thrashed her fist against the locker.

The group of girls shuddered at the shock and took a step back. Rachel growled as she began to walk forward. "You have no right to tell me what Will and I have done. You have no right to try and make us feel guilty by brandishing religion in our faces. God wants us to love and be loved; it is not a sin for falling in love with someone and by bringing a child into this world, no matter how horrible it is, will be the best thing we will ever do because we will be further proving that love is what makes us human and therefore some way honouring God. But mostly we will do it because we love each other and we want to be good parents. We will be good parents and there is nothing you can say that will make me believe that myself or my child are impure."

Mary began to walk towards Rachel now, pushing her against the lockers again. Asserting her power. Cocking her head to the side, smiling with a devilish grin and an ungodly glint in her eyes. "I'm just glad that you've not aborted the bastard you are carrying. The Lord would not be able to forgive you then, still perhaps if you follow in the footsteps of your friend Miss Fabray and give the bastard up for adoption, maybe the Lord will grant you permission to pass through the pearly gates of heaven." Rachel slammed her fist on the lockers again and snarled in the girl's face; her eyes brimming with tears. "If you call my baby a bastard one more time, I am going to make sure you regret it." Mary chuckled and looked down at Rachel, shaking her head and moving her lips to Rachel's ear."Your threats don't frighten me Rachel and they only anger the Lord." As she walked away, her flock following she turned her head and smiled as innocently as she could; "I'll pray for you Rachel."

Poor Rachel was left shaking with anger and crying hard. She banged her head against the lockers and slide down to the floor in a puddle of her own tears. She placed her hand on her bump whispering; "You're not a bastard. You're not a bastard. Mommy and daddy love you so much and we would never get rid of you. Never."

It wasn't just the religious girls and the kids at school; Rachel was hounded by news crew and journalists. Although the publicity was good for proving their love was real and should be taken seriously and Will should be released, there were a few articles published that really did not help the cause; one said that Will had been like a predator stalking his prey and raped Rachel, another told the story that Rachel was the one that seduced Will and were on his side that he should be let out

Quinn was sure after the protest and spurring the school on to join together and collectively get Mr Shuester out of jail, it appeared as if all their hard work and effort had been for nothing; no one really cared about Mr Shuester. They certainly didn't care about Rachel, so they didn't want to help her get him out. It seemed as if Rachel really was back to square one.

Quinn drove Rachel home. She had been back at school for almost a whole month and she was beginning to grow exhausted again. The blonde took both their backpacks and walked Rachel to the door, telling her that as soon as they got inside the building she would be running the brunette a hot, relaxing bubble bath and then give her shoulders a rub.

"Really Quinn, you don't need to do that." Rachel told her, smiling at the thought of a calming bubble bath instead of having a plain and usual shower. "Of course I don't need to do it, but I want to do it." Quinn told her, still smiling.

Rachel got the door open but before they put their bags down or even got inside, Leroy was calling for Rachel. He sounded frantic, excited but also serious. "Rach!" He called, rushing from his office to the front door. "Hi dad what's-"

"Did you tell her?" Hiram asked, racing down the stairs.

"Tell me what?" Rachel asked, getting worried now.

"Rachel the letter came." He held the letter up in his hand and waved it in front of her face.

"What?" Rachel gasped.

"The letter Rach; Will's court appeal hearing!" Leroy answered, and, out of pure excitement, Quinn squealed and then wrapped her arm around her waist. "Oh my God." Rachel gasped again, this time more out of disbelief than surprise. "What does it say Leroy?" Quinn asked, just as eager as Rachel to know. "You got it." Hiram shouted happily, like they had just won the lottery.

Rachel's eyes widened and her jaw dropped a little. Leroy stepped forward and took his little girl in his arms. "Did you hear that baby girl; you can go and appeal to get him out."

"Really?" She whispered, still not believing.

"Basically." Hiram told her.

"Basically?" Quinn asked, frowning in confusion at both men.

"You see it'll just be you: you, the judge and a jury-"

"Us too Rach, and Quinn." Leroy said, kissing his daughter's head.

"What will I have to do?" Rachel asked, holding her hand out for Quinn to take.

"You'll go in the stand and try to convince them again that Will is innocent."

"Dad if they didn't listen the first time-" Rachel groaned, untying herself from her dad and burrowing her face in the crook of Quinn's neck. 

Hiram and Leroy looked at each other, sighed at each other and then gave each other little nods. Leroy spoke as her guided Quinn and Rachel into the family room and sat them down.

"This time they are going to listen. This time they won't have all the pressure of the media-"

"But dad, what if they won't release him?"

"Then we'll keep trying." Hiram nodded his head as he told her. "Will promised us he would never leave you and we are going to make sure that never happens."

"I just hope you're right." Rachel sighed, resting her head on Quinn's shoulder.

A few weeks later, Rachel was in the stand. The Berry men and Quinn were there too, just as they had promised. She was so nervous that she had been sick. What little food she had eaten that morning was now living in the sewer system of Ohio.

Judge Mcgarther was there and the same jury were also present. A few looked grumpy that they had to listen to Rachel again and had made their feelings pretty clear. Although the part of a jury is to remain neutral to the end, they still wore their feelings and opinions right across their faces; even so much as scowling at Rachel as she spoke.

As soon as Rachel stood up to go to the stand, she felt light-headed and felt a sharp jab in her lower abdomen. She ignored it, nothing could distract her, and walked to the stand. She promised to tell the truth again, and this time declared it with a steady voice and strong tone.

She began her speech explaining her relationship with Will from the beginning; how they were like any other teacher and student but how they became closer as they progressed with Glee. She also explained that Will became closer with everyone and that he looked out for everyone in the club. She went on to talk about the crush she had on Will; how they had sang 'Endless Love' and she sang him 'Crush' whilst he was driving her home after she had done a few chores for Terri. Then her crush faded, but she admitted that she still always harboured feelings for Will, but knew there was not a chance in the world that they would be reciprocated. Or that she would show them. As she got older, they got closer and flirted and their teacher/student relationship altered slightly to a more relaxed, almost friendship. Then they went to New York. Rachel explained that she had developed stronger feelings for Will and he had been feeling the same by this point, however she didn't know that. Their relationship progressed into a romantic one, and both of them knew of the consequences and gave each other opportunities to put an end to the relationship, but they both felt too strongly about one another. They were in love, and that was it.

As she was about to move onto how unfair they both found the situation they were in, she felt the sharp pain again. This time it ripped through the whole side of her abdomen. She gasped a little and clutched at her side. Because of the pause in her speech, and the noticeable gasp, Judge Mcgarther spoke up; "Miss Berry are you all right?" He didn't sound overly concerned, but he did furrow his eyebrows at her.

Still in the stand, still holding herself, Rachel took a few deep breaths through her nose. Her hand frantically rubbed at her side and at her stomach, thinking that, like a lamp, if she rubbed hard enough the pain would go away. "Yes, I'm fine your honour." She answered after a little while and straightened herself. The pain hadn't gone, but it had definitely subsided a little. Judge Mcgarther pushed himself little bit towards the stand. "Would you like to sit down?" He asked, not feeling comfortable with a young, pregnant woman looking so uncomfortable and standing in his court. The brunette shook her head and smiled. Her brown waves swishing like a lion's mane, but with the speed of a yawn. "No, no I'm in the stand so I'll stand."

"Very well." He cleared his throat and waved his hand for her to continue.

"Thank you. As I was saying; within a few short weeks I will no longer be Will Shuester's student. I will be graduated high school student and will be heading off to collage. Will and I shall therefore be legally able to date each other. I have read, through my extensive research, that it is perfectly okay for a couple to date with the considerable age gap we possess and when I am no longer present at the William Mckinley High School, I will be free to date William Shuester. Not only will I be free to date him but I will be free to ah," she clutched her stomach again and bent over, "oh my God!" She gasped, panting and slowly falling to the floor.

"Rachel!" Quinn got up and out of her seat, practically climbing over the seats and running down the aisle to get to her. "Get her off that stand now!" She ordered, and the bailiff open the little door and Quinn rushed inside. Rachel's fathers were behind Quinn, getting into the stand also, whilst the judged banged his gavel and yelled; "Court dismissed."  
>"No!" Rachel cried out, "No please I need to finish!"<p>

"Rachel you have finished." Quinn told her, holding her hand, "We need to get you to a hospital." Hiram was crying as Leroy lifted his daughter up in his arms and carried her like a husband would carry his wife to their bedroom on their wedding night. He rushed her out of the room as fast as he could, ignoring Rachel's pleas to be put down and to continue. Simply shushing her and telling her it was for her best. Hiram grabbed onto Quinn before she could chase after them. He was so scared at what he had just witnessed and sobbed at her; "She's going to be okay, right?" He sounded like a terrified little boy, and Quinn could see where Rachel got her dramatic crying gene from.

"Sure," Quinn said with a shaky voice. "Of course she is Mr Berry." She took his arm and lead him out of the room. "She's only six months gone, she can't have the baby now." He tried to compose himself, taking Leroy's hanky out of his pocket and wiping his eyes. "She won't." Quinn told him, although praying that Rachel wouldn't really give birth now. "It's probably just a false labour."

"You're right. It's all this stress!" Hiram tried to rationalise, biting his lip in the same way Rachel did sometimes when she was thinking. "Come on Mr Berry, I'll drive you in my car." Quinn too his elbow this time and lead him over to her car.

Rachel had been rushed straight into a room and was being check over. Leroy had broken several laws getting her to the hospital – thinking the whole time how brilliant he would be when the actual time came for his daughter to have her baby – and then carried her through the doors and yelling for help, like he had seen in movies and medical shows.

His baby girl was crying and screaming because of the pain and was taken to be seen. They gave her something for the pain and checked her over. Now, she was resting in bed with her daddy holding her hand, Quinn stroking her hair and her dad watching over them with his fingers pressed to his mouth, pointing up towards his nose, as he thought. Not about anything in particular, but just thinking.

"Rachel Berry?" A young female doctor with bright blue eyes and strawberry blonde hair walked. Both men sat up, Leroy standing and walking over to her to offer his hand. "Yes, this is my daughter Rachel Berry." He greeted, "I'm Leroy Berry, this is my husband Hiram and this is Rachel's friend Quinn." The doctor acknowledged them all and introduced herself as Doctor Piper.

"Doctor is she going to be okay? Is the baby going to be okay?" Hiram asked, still holding onto Rachel's hand. Doctor smiled and walked to the end of Rachel's bed. "Rachel is going to be fine. The baby going to be fine too." she smiled and heard the whole room – apart from Rachel – sigh with relief, Hiram and Quinn thanking God; Quinn even kissed Rachel's forehead and smiled at her, a tear falling from her eyes. "Then what caused her to collapse like that?" Leroy asked.

Doctor Piper looked over at Rachel and Quinn. She saw that Rachel wasn't looking at her or her fathers. She wasn't even looking at Quinn. She simply just stared down at her bump and stroked it softly with her fingers. "Mr and Mr Berry, would you mind if I spoke to Rachel first, in private?"

"Why?" Hiram asked, fearing for the worst, "What's wrong?"

"I just want to have a word with Rachel by herself, if that's okay with you Rachel?" She asked, smiling again, but this time raising an eyebrow at her.

Sore and tired, the brunette lifted her head up at Doctor Piper. "Can Quinn stay wit me? Please?" She asked, and Doctor Piper agreed, seeing the little droplets of water forming in her eyes. Rachel knew why she was there and she desperately didn't want her fathers to know, but for some reason she didn't mind Quinn knowing. She had helped her with so much, she might as well help her with this now. Her dad and daddy left the room, telling Rachel they would be down the hall getting drinks and they would grab her and Quinn one too. As they left Doctor Piper moved closer to Quinn so she could tell Rachel her news.

"You've been putting yourself under immense stress and strain, your blood pressure was dangerously high and you are slightly underweight than we would hope." She sighed, glancing quickly at her notes on her clipboard. Quinn frowned at the doctor's words. "But she's okay now right? She's going to be okay?" She asked, worried and held onto Rachel's hand a little tighter.

"Yes, after a few weeks of gentle rest and a week's bed rest she'll be fine. Although I am concerned that you haven't been eating enough"

"What?" Quinn asked, "what do you mean?"

"Quinn it's okay." Rachel said quietly, ashamed of herself.

"No it's not okay, Rachel. You've not been eating?"

"No, I've been eating just...not enough." She admitted, blushing but biting her lip too. Quinn looked up at Doctor Piper and then placed her hand on top of Rachel's that was stroking her bump. As Rachel felt the contact, she turned her head to face Quinn. "That's going to change. You are going to eat so much food, that you will put on eight dress sizes!"

"Well I don't want you to go that extreme, but Quinn is right Rachel. You need to start eating more and resting. Try to do everything you can to not get stressed out, okay?"

"Yes doctor." Rachel nodded her head. "Thank you doctor."

Rachel had gone to sleep and only woke up when she heard her door open. Her eyes fluttered open and grew in size when she saw who was there.

She sat up and felt her heart beating faster. "Will what are you-"

"I came as soon as I could." He said, closing the door and rushing over to her side. He picked her torso up and held her close to himself. He had missed her. Missed everything about her; her smell, the way she felt against him, the beat of her heart, how soft her hair was..everything. He held her and kissed her neck, pulling away and pushing her gently against the pillows so she was comfortable. "How?" She asked, glad that he was there, but she seriously thought she wouldn't see him for another few months, if that. "I thought we weren't allowed to see each other?"

"Your dads got on the phone and rang the jail, practically threatening them with all kinds of violence and irrational torture unless I was allowed to come and see you." Will explained, as he sat down on the little chair that Quinn had been sitting in previously. "Good ol' dad and daddy." Rachel giggled, holding onto Will's hand."Yeah, I'll need to thank them once again."

"How long can you stay?"

"I have about three hours at the most." He told her sadly.

"Three hours?"

"Yeah."

"But that's hardly any time!"

"Then let's not waste our precious time we do have;" He sat up and moved himself so her was right up against the bed, holding both of Rachel's hands. He looked her straight in the eyes and gave her that serious look. She knew that he was going to give her a solemn speech rather than a romantic one.

"Rachel you need to stop this."

"Stop what?"

"Hurting yourself!" He exclaimed, his eyes widening. "Making yourself sick! You need to stop campaigning for my release."

"No! Absolutely not, Will. I will fight for you until the very end-"

"And if you're not careful not only will you end but also our baby will!" He snapped, shouting and realising some of his anger. Rachel looked scared; she'd never seen him shout like that at her – not since that time in Glee where she came in with her mouth tape, this was even more scary. Will sighed, sitting back down on her bed, holding her hand. "Rachel I...I'm sorry I scared you then. I'm sorry I said those things. But Rach, you've got to listen to me; you have to stop hurting yourself. You are way too stressed out. You're not eating, Quinn tells me you're barely sleeping. The only part of you that has stayed relatively the same is that your grades haven't suffered. Rach, I would rather you flunked every class with flying colours rather you to get sick. Not only are you putting your own life at risk but also our baby's. I love you Rachel and I don't want either of you to get hurt. You are the most important person in my life and the thought of you doing this to yourself is killing me."

"I'm not purposely not eating Will." She told him, angry that he would think that.

"I know. I know but Rach please, this stress of trying to get me out is too much." He shook his head, trying to clear himself of building up tears. "It's too much Rach."

"So what do you expect me to do? Give up? Let you sit in jail and never know your daughter?"

"No of course not Rach-"

"Then what, Will? I feel so helpless!"

"You're not helpless! Just please, let me do this myself."

"Will-"

"No Rachel, I will not let you put yourself through any more of this. I love you beyond recognition that you and Quinn and all the other guys would campaign so hard to get me out. But you need to take care of yourself and the baby. Okay?"

"I won't give up Will. I may not be actively doing anything to get you out but, but I won't give up. I can't thinking about you and how we will be a family and no one is going to tell us what to do." Rachel told him with conviction, nodding her head. "As long as you stay healthy, that is all that matters."

Before he left, Will and Rachel stayed together talking. Not just about trivial things, because really Rachel didn't want to hear about life in jail and Will didn't want to tell her. Instead, they talked about the most important thing in their lives: their baby.

"Have you got any names in mind?" Rachel asked as Will stroked her stomach.

"I've been thinking about names." He told her, nodding his head.  
>"Oh yeah? Care to share any?" Rachel smiled, resting her her head on his shoulder as he lay next to her, his hand stroking her bare stomach. "Well, for a boy I was thinking Coby."<p>

"Coby?" Rachel frowned.

"Yeah, you know like a little bear cub. I'd be his papa bear and he'll be my baby bear. It would be cute."

"I guess."

"You don't like it?"

"Well it's better than Penny!" Rachel giggled.

"All right, what about you."

"Well, for a boy maybe Crispin."

"Crispin?" Will wrinkled his nose and shook his head. "Sounds like a cereal bar!"

"All right, all right, let's move on to names for a girl. Suggestions?" Rachel asked, raising her eyebrows. "Well," Will dropped his head a little, "I had always liked the name Lottie."

"Lottie."

"Yeah, do you like it?"

"I do. But-"

"But?"

"I don't know; Lottie Berry? Lottie Shuester? I don't know."

"Well what do you think?"

"Aspen."

"You want to go there?" Will asked confused.

"No! The name, Aspen!"

"Sounds kind of...masculine doesn't it?"

"Well, maybe we can put it in the boy pile?"

"Sure."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean whatever name we pick it's going to be perfect because our baby is perfect." Will told her softly, kissing her temple. "I've missed your sweetness." Rachel whispered.

She brought her lips to Wills and they shared a sweet, passionate, tender kiss.

"Will?" A policeman came in just as Rachel slipped her tongue inside his mouth. They separated, but Will continued to hold onto her. He frowned and sighed, "Three hours up already?" He asked. "Afraid so Will." The man shrugged, looking generally upset.

Will cupped Rachel's face; "I'll see you later."

"When?" She asked, with a quiet shaky voice.  
>"In our dreams tonight." He didn't want to tell her that he didn't know, instead he gave her the promise that he would always be there in her thoughts, as she was always in his. He kissed her again and then, just as he was leaving, bent down to kiss her bump. "Goodbye little Acorn." He whispered against Rachel's protruding bellybutton. "Adios mi precioso bebé, papá te va a ver pronto. Muy, muy pronto. I love you both so much." A tear had slipped from his eye and trickled down Rachel's stomach.<p>

He turned before he left and waved at her.  
>She waved back and tried to smile.<p>

As he left, both of them cried but promised to see each other in their dreams that night.


	18. I Now I Pronounce You

**Hello everyone. So, this chapter took forever to write as well, I wrote it backwards because I had to do some research. Even though my dad is a lawyer, he didn't give me all the answers I needed for the court proceedings. Also, Wikkipeida and various other sites weren't too helpful either, so most of what is happening in this court scene (like in the last one) I've taken ideas from television shows and from my research. Still hope you all like it. **

**Chapter Seventeen**

**I Now Pronounce You...**

After visiting Rachel and seeing her in such a fragile, yet determined state, Will realised what he needed to do. He saw just how prepared she was to fight for him, and he felt ashamed that he had just been sat in the cell and wallowing in his own self pity. Now he had to prove himself to his fiancée and his child. He needed them, but right now they needed him more.

"Officer," he addressed the man in the car that was driving him back to the prison.

"Yeah Shuester?" He said, flickering his eyes to Will through the mirror and then focused back on the road again. Will's mouth twitched at the corners; a sudden flash of the ultrasound scan picture Rachel had given him blasted his vision and his fingertips tingled with the sensation of his baby as he stroked Rachel's stomach. He had to be with his child. He had to be with his fiancée and he was going to fight for them like a warrior. "I need to make an appeal."

Rachel was now seven months pregnant, her finals were under way and within less than three weeks she – and the rest of her follow seniors – would graduating. Now, however, she was sat in court once again for what she hoped was the last time. Quinn was sat with her, as well as her fathers and where one hand was stroking her stomach, trying to sooth the baby's movements as it wiggled inside of her, the other was held firmly in Quinn's.

She had been kept in hospital for two days; due to her age and how small she was, the doctors thought it would safer. Having eventually been given the 'all clear' she proceeded to go home and be treated like a princess – or a start, actually. She was barely allowed to get out of bed by her overprotective fathers and fussing best friend. Quinn even offered to get the boys from Glee Club to carry her to class, however they just carried Rachel's books and acted as a shield from the bustling teenagers in the halls.

Still no amount of protection could keep her from feeling sick at the thought of this appeal going horribly wrong.

Her eyes fells on Will's. Even though he had been in the cell for as long as he had been, he still looked handsome. Normally prisoners – not that he was one in her mind – looked dirty and rugged and guilty; Will just looked as handsome as ever. Once he saw her his eyes brightened and he straightened himself up. Even over the bar that separated him from her, he could still see her bump and it made him smile with pride; knowing why he was doing this.

After what felt like hours, the court was told to rise as the Judge was lead in.

Judge Mcgarther took his seat and without much of a pause he began to speak."This court has been called to session on the account that Mr William Shuester has called for an appeal, is this correct?" His eyes looked over at Will for a moment, indicating for the teacher to speak.

"Yes your Honour." He said, proudly and glanced over at Rachel.

"This court is now a court of appeal." Judge Mcgarther banged his gavel, making Rachel and the baby jump as the noise echoed. "The jury have reviewed the evidence; it still stands, Mr Shuester, that you had an illegal and inappropriate relationship with your student-"

"But your Honour-" Will began to add his view but was stopped.

"Do not interrupt me Mr Shuester." He growled, silently threatening to send him back to the cells.

"I'm sorry your Honour." Will mumbled, realising he had to just keep quiet. Judge Mcgarter cleared his throat and continued talking. "So the jury has reviewed the evidence and the witnesses we called up are still adamant that you and Miss Berry had an improper relationship-"

"Then arrest me too!" Rachel stood up and called out, "It's not fair-"

"Miss Berry sit down!" Judge Mcgarther yelled again, banging his gavel frantically; causing the baby to practically do somersaults inside of Rachel. She clutched onto her stomach and held onto the bar to stop herself from falling over because of the sharp, harsh noise. "No, your Honour." She screamed at him, feeling a little out of breath. "If you are not going to release Will than arrest me too. There are two of us in this relationship, your Honour-"

"Rachel please." Will begged, leaning over his own bar and gripping onto it hard, turing his knuckles white. He didn't want her to ruin this for him, not like the last time, he also saw how thin and pale her face was and he had a horrid feeling she would faint again. Rachel shot him a look, "I'm sorry Will but I will not allow you to be locked up when none of this is your fault!"

"Rachel sit down!" Leroy told her forcefully, getting Quinn to sit her down. "She's sick your honour, and she gets overly emotional." His apologised to the Judge and to the court.

"Just make sure she stays in her seat." Judge Mcgarther grumbled and waved his hand at Rachel's dad. "Yes your Honour." He blushed, scowling slightly at Rachel. Judge Mcgarther turned his attention back to Will, who was looking at Rachel with concern in his eyes. "Now, as I was saying, the court has already heard all the evidence and I would have to say that there are no loopholes or exceptions in your case as you have openly admitted to having the affair with Miss Berry." The was a pause in his speech, Will sighed and lowered his head, "However," Will raised his head again. "Seeing as though Miss Berry has claimed that you did not push or force her into the relationship, and one of the witnesses has proved this also, I am going to allow you to speak."

"Thank you. Thank you so much your Honour." He gushed, taking a moment to compose himself.

"Your honour, jury and the court; I know that what I have done is wrong. I know that, as a teacher, I never should have compromised my professional relationship with a students. And, if it were any other student then I would have broken it off, in fact I never would have flirted or done any of the things that I have done with Rachel. But Sir, your Honour, you have to believe me when I say that I love Rachel. She's different from the other girls; she mature and sensible, but driven and ambitious and she is so adorable! If this was completely one sided then I would have probably moved schools and never seen her again, but this wasn't one sided. We love each other, we're getting married, we're having a baby together! I love her more than I have loved anyone in my life. Please, allow us to be together. What might look like a thirty three year old man trying to have his way with an eighteen year old girl, is really not that at all. It isn't sick or wrong. To me, to us, what we have done and want to continue to do is not wrong. We aren't hurting anybody. We aren't terrorists, we are criminals, we aren't going to cost the tax payer thousands or pennies for that matter. We are just two people who have fallen in love with each other. And, as far as I can see, there is nothing wrong with our love. You wouldn't tell a man and another man to not love each other or a woman and another woman not to love each other, you wouldn't tell a black person and a white person not to love each other! I am beyond begging; please allow my nightmare to end so I can continue showing my fiancée how much I love her."

The court was silent. The air was light, but heavy at the same time. The baby inside Rachel had stopped moving, and the young expecting mother could have sworn she stopped breathing.

Judge Mcgarther's eyes shifted over to the jury. The man who gave the previous statement, declaring that Will was guilty at the last trial, stood up and passed the judge his verdict. Judge Mcgarther read it and his eyes shifted again.

Rachel was panting now, biting her lip and had her eyes fixed on Will once more.

The judge then opened his mouth to deliver his last verdict on the case.

"William Shuester, you claim that you love this girl more than any other person in the world. You love her so much that you would be willing to sacrifice your job and whole career for her? Yet, you believe your actions are justified because she was legally old enough to have intercouse with you. I understand that, perhaps the sentence previously stowed upon you was rather harsh," Rachel took a sharp breath of air and Quinn clenched her fingers around hers in anticipation, "I hereby drop all charges against you and reinstate your right to teach. I hereby declare you innocence."

A loud, excitable gasp from Rachel echoed throughout the court as mumblings began to rise and Judge Mcgarher banged his gavel. "Court dismissed!" Will had fallen to his knees, crying into his hands and the small brunette ran to him, begging for the bailiff to open up the stand for her. He did and stepped back. She crouched by Will and held him in her arms, crying onto his suit. He sat up and removed his hands only for them to be replaced by Rachel's own hands; cradling his face and holding him to her chest. He sobbed for what felt like hours, but they didn't care.

They had each other and that was all that mattered.

Walking back into the halls of William Mckinley High School after a break is daunting enough, walking back in because you've been in prison after falling in love with a student and wanting to marry them is enough more daunting. Still; Will Shuester straightened his tie, ran his hand through his hair one last time and picked up his brief as he pushed open the doors to the entrance.

As he walked through the doors, the filled halls parted like the Red Sea for Moses. Students lined the sides and watched him as he held his head high and a positive smile on his face. He refused to meet any of the students' or teachers' eyes as he walked, knowing his eyes only had one destination. Straight ahead of him were the twelve people he cared and respect the most at the school and at the front of them all was the one woman he loved more than anyone else in the world: his Glee Club.

They stood in their group as they had done hundreds of times before in rehearsals, at competitions and at performances, singing their hearts out for his return. Smiles written across their faces and a few tears trickling down their youthful cheeks. Above their heads was a banner decorated with gold stars and musical notes from his favourite band's best songs. Also the words written on the banner made his heart leap into his throat and his breath hitch;

"**_Welcome Back Mr Shue!_"**

As Will approached them, his own heart swelled and his eyes brimmed with tears. Rachel stepped out of the little group – crying more than the others, but with the biggest smile – and Will held his hand out to her. She took it gladly and he pulled her to him wrapping his arms around her waist and picking her up to give her the biggest hug he could.

"I'm so glad to be back." He whispered into her soft, sweet smelling hair. Rachel clung onto him like a baby kola bear and whispered to him; "It's not been the same without you." Both understood the subtext and they smiled at it, realising that they could finally be a real couple together.

Will put her lightly back down, touching her stomach with his fingertips briefly and then wrapping his around around the back of her shoulders, holding her to him. He kissed her temple and looked at her. "Are you ready for this?" He asked her quietly but smiling all the same. Rachel returned his smile and nodded her head. "I am, I'm ready to take my last final and then I am ready to become your wife, Will. I have never been more excited." She whispered as she squeezed his waist.

"What, about a final?" He winked, "Come on I'll walk you." He then let go of her shoulders and reluctantly took his hand off her stomach, but instead held his hand out for her. She took it and he walked her to where her exam would be. Not breaking contact until the last second.

That day, Will had organised a Glee meeting.

The kids were there early, waiting with anticipation. As he entered, Puck started off a cheer and soon the room was full of whoops and claps. He was flattered and held his hands up in the air, Finn and Mike running over to him and picking him up, balancing their soon to be ex Glee Coach up on their shoulders.

For a little while, the kids just cheered and jumped up and down; thrilled to have their coach back for just one last week before their graduation and some of them would be leaving Mckinley High forever and heading off to college.

Once the man was put back down on his feet, Rachel raised herself on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek, before she took her seat on the bleachers with the others.

"We're seriously so glad to have you back Mr Shue." Mercedes told him, still smiling and wiping her eyes from laughing so much with the others. "Yes Mr Shue, I think I speak for everyone when I say that we are thrilled to have you back." Kurt beamed, crossing his legs and wiping his eye.

"Yeah Mr Shue, we really missed you." Puck told him, shrugging, "Not as much as Rachel of course." He smirked, winking at her. Rachel rolled her eyes and shook her head, not bothering to blush, simply turning to face the boy; "Can you blame me for missing him?" She then turned back to her fiancée and bit her lip; "He's fantastic and the most wonderful man in the world." Her voice was dreamlike and her eyes were filling with a mixture of hormone filled and happiness filled tears. "Okay, enough of the sappiness," Santana clapped, stopping the two lovers from staring at each other any further, "We all missed you Mr Shue and we're really glad everything worked out well." She added with a smile, Brittany squeezing her hand and resting her head on her Latina girlfriend's shoulder. "Yeah, it really blows that you were sent to jail in the first place. It's just so great to have you back," Finn then looked down at the ground for a moment and sounded a little sadder, "It just kinda sucks that some of us won't be here in the Fall to continue singing in Glee Club." The other members agreed, shrugging their shoulders and biting their lips.

Will sighed and walked over to the group and sat next to Rachel, pulling her on his lap. "Guys, I am going to miss you all so much and you all are going to go on and do really great things. You guys that are staying here for another year, you'll just have to teach the new members of New Directions how to at least try and attempt to fill these guys massive shoes!"

"Yeah we will!" Artie said, high fiving Tina.

"Besides, it's not over yet. I got a surprise for you all."

"Don't tell us; you and Rachel are getting married and having a baby?" Brittany said, looking at him with wide eyes hoping she was correct. "That's right Brittany." Will said slowly, not wanting to hurt her feelings by explaining that that wasn't the news he was meaning. The bubbly blonde however bounced in her seat and clapped to herself; happy that she had got something right for once. "The...other piece of news, is that New Directions will be performing at graduation!" The room was filled once again with cheers and whoops. "This is awesome; our last performance together will be in front of the whole school!" Finn smiled as brightly as he could. "That's right, it'll be like the finale to a wonderful Broadway experience." Rachel smiled, stroking Will's cheek with the back of her hand. "So, we'd better get practising if we want to make a long lasting impression!" Will clapped, lifting Rachel up and twirling her around, before planting her back down again.

The sun was shining but the temperature was cool. Blue filled the sky with the school's colours – red and white – filling the grounds of William Mckinley High. All finals were done, applications complete and now the only thing left to do was to get their diplomas and graduate.

Brittany was sat up on the stage (with her red and white gown on backwards) next to Sue, a huge grin on her face and her fingers waved to Santana and mouthed 'look at me! I'm up on stage!' Santana could hear the excitement in her girlfriend's voice, and she waved back mouthing how proud she was and how much she loved her.

Rachel was sat next to Quinn, her hand gave the blonde a light squeeze and her throat made a little squeal. "Calm down Berry," Quinn giggled, "It's not like you're going up to get a Tony!"  
>"Well I'm just practising, Fabray!" Rachel bumped her shoulder with Quinn's. "Besides, I'm just so excited. Within the next two hours, I will be a student, once I throw this cap up in the air, I will be free to live my life exactly how I want to." Her smile grew and reached her eyes. Quinn smiled at her again. "I know, I can't believe that pretty soon you'll be allowed to do whatever you want."<p>

"You too, Quinn." Rachel nodded her head at her blonde best friend.

"Yeah well, maybe not whatever I want." The blonde shrugged. Rachel frowned and took Quinn's hand again. "Yes, whatever you want Quinn. You will get out of here today and go and follow the path to your dream. Have you told your parents what you want to do?" She asked in a slightly quieter voice. Quinn looked down at the ground and shook her head. "Well that's the first step; tell them that you're not going to slum along with the rest and you are an amazing, unique individual and one day you are going to be the world's greatest photographer." Quinn raised her eyes off the ground and looked into Rachel's. "You think so?" She whispered, unsure if any of it was possible. Rachel gave her a softer smile. "I know so."

Principle Figgins stood at the podium, cleared his throat and began his speech;

"Students, parents, teachers and guests welcome to this year's senior class graduation. It is proud day for all of us as we watch our senior class come together and collect their well deserved, well earned certificates and diplomas, before they head off to write the next chapter to their books called 'Life'." There was a little round of applause and he then continued with the general speech that principles do; explaining about how good the school was, how dedicated the teachers were, how fantastic the students were; and not one person heckled him which was an added bonus.

"And now without further ado, I now turn you over to this year's Senior Class President; Miss Brittany S Pierce."

Santana jumped up from her seat, followed by the rest of the Glee Club and the Cheerios, and applauded her. Brittany got up and made her way to the podium to make her presidential speech.

"Hi, my name's Brittany and I'm not an alcoholic." She beamed and giggled at the huge round of applause she got from her joke – lead by Santana. "But, on to more serious stuff. These past few years have been really cool. All my life I've been told that I was stupid and would be better off keeping my mouth shut and just make some pretty pictures with the kindergarten kids. But I didn't listen to those people and I never stopped smiling. As class president I'm supposed to say how good the school is and how wonderful all the academic stuff it. But you all know that, I mean you've gotta know how good the teachers are if they made sure I could graduate with all you guys right?" There was another round of applause and laughter, this time not lead by Santana. "High school is a really tough time for everyone. High school is concerned with labels and popularity, but in life no one really cares about that stuff, unless you're voting because then people really do care if you're a Republican or a Democrat. But, whatever, when you leave high school none of that matters. No one is going to care that you were or weren't a Cheerio or a jock or a geek or a dancer or singer or language student. No one cares. But, what they do care about are the things you learned whilst in high school. I don't just mean stuff like history or math because in the end none of that stuff matters either. Well not to me anyway. I'm talking abut the life skills we pick up whilst here. Friends and family are the most important people in your life and the things you share with them are the most important things in the world. We've all been through some really tough times during our time in high school, but as long as you have your friends and family supporting you then you can get through anything. We all learnt that within the last year, the past few months especially." She sent a quick smile to Rachel to let her know she was talking about her. Rachel gave her a smile and a little wink to say thank you. "So, I'd like to thank everyone for coming in celebrating our graduation, but one final thought: when life after high school gets you down, just keep doing what I did; smile."

The crowd corrupted like a series of volcanoes with applause and cheers, laughter and whoops. Santana had never been so proud of her girlfriend and couldn't wait to tell her – and show her – just how proud she was.

"The Glee Club and I would now like to sing a song before we all get up here, get our diplomas and get the hell out of here!" The crowd applauded again as Brittany punched her fist in the air and stepped down, walking to where the Glee Club were soon standing, ready to sing their last song officially together.

The Glee Club made their way to the stage – even the few of them that weren't graduating yet – and stood together in a huddle. Mr Shuester also came on the stage, and he was met with a series of applause and cheers, which brought tears to his eyes. Together they all sang the timeless hit; 'A Little Help From My Friends' by The Beetles with their little Glee Club twist; symbolising to themselves and to the rest of the school, that as long as they had friends and family to support them they would conquer the world.

Once all of the diplomas had been handed out, the kids stood at their seats, clutching them in their hands and waited eagerly for the next part. The part they had all dreamed about: tossing their caps in the air, symbolising that their high school lives had ended. Permanently.

Principle Figgins took his place at the podium one more time and kept his face as straight as he could make it. "Ladies and gentlemen, I now introduce you to our senior class of 2012!"

Whoops, cheers, screams and cap filled the air. Finally they had done it; they had finished their four years of high school and were finally embarking on the next part of their adventure. For most, it was going off to college and getting jobs, for Rachel however, it was still following her dream of being a Broadway star and living in New York, but she would be with the man she loved so much and would be taking the step that most people her age would be waiting a little longer for. Sure, she had originally planned to wait until she had conquered the Broadway stage, but she had realised over the past year that life didn't follow a strict plan. And now she couldn't be happier; she was now going to be a wife and mother and she couldn't wait.

The after graduation part mostly consisted of everyone standing around and being hugged by various people and talking to teachers. Rachel, however, managed to slip away from her fathers and caught Will's eye. He excused himself from the parents he was talking to and he walked towards his glowing fiancée.

"Well Mr Shuester, it appears I am no longer your student." Rachel told him as she slithered up to Will, pressing her hands on his chest. Will raised his eyebrow at her and smirked, placing his hands on her stomach, one of them moving around her waist and resting on her lower back. He prepared to push their bodies together. "I guess you're right, Miss Berry." He smiled, lowering his face to meet hers. "What do you suggest we should do now?" Rachel was staring into his eyes and parted her lips, licking them quickly with a quick stroke of her tongue. Will took a deep breath and took his other hand off Rachel's stomach and moved it around her back to join his other hand. He now pushed her to his body and hovered his lips above her. "Well, I know what I'd like to do." He said, lowering his voice. "Oh really?" Rachel made her voice slightly huskier and she began to close her eyes. "Yeah." Will closed his eyes and pressed his lips to hers: drinking in all that was their love.

"Hey you two!" Santana called, making them both separate quickly and looking in the direction of the intruder. They smiled when they saw that Kurt's dad had a camera pointed at the group of Glee kids and Finn's mom was organising them into a more circular group. "Get your loved up asses over here and get in the picture!"

Will and Rachel's eyes sparkled at each other and then Will grabbed Rachel's hand, rushing her over to the Glee Club.

"Come on everybody huddle around!" Burt shouted as he tried to get the camera set up with the best possible light, angle and all other technical stuff. The kids all got themselves close together; arms wrapped around waists and shoulders, cheerful genuine smiles pressed on their faces and happy tears in their eyes. Will followed the boys actions and hugged his girl from behind, his hands resting on her stomach. They both felt the light yet powerful kick from their baby, and they both gasped and smiled up at each other, knowing that they were going to live happily ever after. "Okay guys," Burt announced, "Three, two, one-"

"GLEE CLUB RULES!" They all shouted, laughing and cheering, hugging and kissing each other.

August. Just over a little more than a month from graduation, and now the Glee Club was together again – not that they had parted much since graduation – and were together celebrating one more time.

Again, it was another beautiful sunny day, and this time it was warm with a cool breeze whirling through the town of Lima. The wedding of the century was taking place, not on a beach but in the next best place.

The park had been a secret hideout and sanctuary for the couple and they felt, where better than to share the place where they felt happiest with their friends and family. The section of the park had been closed off to the outside world. The fountain had been cleaned up and the hedges, grass and flowerbeds had been made to look perfect and beautiful; "Just like Rachel," Will had thought.

Rows of chairs had been set out and flowers had decorated the sides of the aisle. It asn't going to be a religious ceremony of such, but as long as it was filled with and shared their love for each other, then it didn't matter.

It wasn't a huge ceremony either; only filled with their closest family and friends. That meant the Glee Club, some of Will's work colleagues and friends and their family. All together there was probably about a hundred people, but they didn't need thousands. Just the people they loved the most in the world.

Hidden away in a little gazebo type tent, Quinn was helping Rachel get ready for one of the biggest, but happiest, days of her life.

"Rachel you look beautiful." Quinn told her, as the brunette looked at herself in the mirror.

Truthfully, Rachel really was a goddess, not just in her obvious beauty but also her heart. She was dressed to look like a goddess too; dressed in a simple pure white dress held up with ribbons behind her neck. It floated gently and rested by her feet, covering and hiding her bump perfectly, not that she was ashamed of it but she wanted this day to be focused on her and not her bump. There would be plenty more times where Rachel would insist everyone focused on her child, and today was not one of them! A light cream, silk sash was tied around her waist, decorated with tiny little stars. Her hair was tied up with loose waves, pinned up with little star clips and ringlets hung down by her face.

The brunette turned to face not only her best friend, but her maid of honour. "You really think I look beautiful?" She asked, stroking her stomach and feeling the flutters of her baby kicking and moving inside of her, as well as the excitable butterflies. "Of course Rach, no one could look more beautiful than you!" Quinn laughed, patting Rachel's shoulder. "Are you nervous?" She asked, hoping that Rachel wouldn't be too nervous. The previous night she had had a dream, well a nightmare actually, where Rachel had gotten so nervous that she had given birth in the middle of the ceremony. Of course, Quinn didn't tell Rachel that.

Rachel bit her lip for a moment and them smiled again. "Honestly, no. I'm not nervous at all. A little anxious about getting my words muddled up and looking like a complete fool in front of Will but, no. Not nervous at all."

"Good, because you have nothing to be nervous about." Quinn winked. "I'll see you out there, okay?" Rachel nodded but before Quinn could go, she felt herself being pulled into a tight hug. "Thank you for helping to organise this." She whispered in the blonde's ear.

"No problem." Quinn smiled, and then released herself.

She was amazed herself at how she had managed to sort everything out so quickly and officially. Organising a wedding is one of the most stressful tasks a person could do – apparently – and with Rachel being pregnant, Quinn told her that she would take care of everything. Although there was no beach, she still made sure everything would be perfect. To keep costs down, they hired the school classical music band to play at the wedding and the reception, in exchange for references to their music colleges. The home economics classes had agreed to cater for the wedding, as long as they could also get references and paid for the food they would use. As for the dresses, well that was Shelby's doing. The woman may have been a bitch to Rachel in the past, but she had promised to do everything she could to make the wedding go smoothly. So, she raided the Vocal Adrenaline costume fund and spent it on getting Rachel's dress and the three bridesmaids dresses, as well as little dress for a special little person.

Standing at the fountain under the snow white Chuppah, Will was looking out to his audience. He had been going over and over in his mind everything and nothing, just something to stop his palms from sweating. "Are you ready for this Will?" Shannon – Coach Beiste as she was known to the kids – asked, as she leant into Will and trying to keep the smirk off her face. Will looked at her and let out a shaky breath. He had no regrets. No cold feet. The only part of him that was nervous was his tongue; he really didn't want to mess up his vows. He had days working on them, even when he was in his cell, and he had to say them perfectly. There was no way he was going to say the wrong name or hesitate or say no; he wanted this so much and he was only scared about messing it up. He smiled at Shannon. "Yeah. I'm so ready to get married to the most beautiful girl in the world."

"Well you won't have to wait too long." She raised her eyebrows and nodded her head. Will held his breath as he turned around and heard the music. Awaiting for his bride to make her way down the aisle. Watching as his bride's bridesmaids made their way down the aisle, and smiling at her maid of honour, Quinn.

A deep low, sound from the cello began, and the accompanied by plucking violins, followed by more violins and soon the most beautiful piece of music in world was playing; 'Cannon in D Major' by Pachelbel.

Santana, Brittany and Quinn walked down the aisle in matching light pink gowns with silver sashes wrapped around their tiny waists, holding roses to their chests. In front of them, a little waddling Beth also dressed in a pink dress and silver sash, scattered gold and silver stars instead of petals on the ground. Will and Rachel had talked to Quinn about it, knowing she might not want Beth their, but once Quinn had found out Shelby was of course coming as the mother of the bride, she promised she would keep her emotions together. That it was their day, and it wouldn't be fair if Beth wasn't there to watch and be part of her adopted sister's wedding.

The little girl made it to the end of the aisle and was grinning at Will. He smiled and winked at her, thanking her for doing such a good job at making the floor look pretty. He then looked at Shelby, who scooped the little girl up and sat her down on her lap and kissed her slightly curly blonde hair and told her what a good girl she was.

Soon, Rachel was standing in the hedge archway, which had also been clipped and trimmed, decorated with roses and stars. She had thought long and hard about if her fathers should walk her down the aisle. But she felt that, no, she was going to be selfish and have the whole world at looking at her. However she did allow her fathers to wait at the bottom so they could give her away before she went to stand by Will.

As with the Jewish tradition, she wore a veil covering her face. It was transparent, so they could could see her, but it was also decorated with little stars – however these stars were the Stars of David, not the gold stars she was so familiar to.

In her hands she held a bunch of lilies; similar to the ones that Will had given her in her corsage.

She took a quick breath and smiled a small, sweet but incredibly happy smile. One foot in front of the other, and soon she was wowing her audience. They stood and smiled at her as the violins continued to play. Some of her friends' parents were sniffling and crying. Her other family members – and Wills' too – were also trying to keep their emotions together. It wasn't a long walk to the Chuppah and the fountain, but she savoured every second of it.

The whole time she kept her eyes focused on Will's. She could see his smile reflecting in his eyes, and she could already feel her tears forming.

Finally she stood by him and her fathers lifted her veil, revealing her breathtakingly beautiful face. They each kissed her on her cheek and squeezed her hand. They turned to Will and shook his hand, before making their way back to their seats, when the congregation sat down.

Rachel couldn't help but smile at Will, who leaned into her and whispered; "I don't think I've ever seen you look more magnificent."

"I believe you don't look to bad yourself." Rachel whispered back, and they giggled together until the service truly began.

As it wasn't a religious ceremony as such, Will and Rachel had decided that neither a priest or rabbi would perform the ceremony. He stepped forward; dressed in a smart dark blue suit and grey shirt with a black tie. His hair was lightly greying too, but he looked handsome and his eyes were warm.

"Welcome everyone, my name is James and I will be conducting this beautiful wedding. I can honestly say that I have never met a couple so much in love. I've talked with Will and Rachel obviously over the past few weeks and, I really do wish them every happiness and joy in the world." He smiled at them both and then cleared his throat. "So, I welcome you all again to the joining of this perfect couple; William Shuester and Rachel Berry. A wise man, by the name of Jonathan Carroll wrote in his book 'Outside the Dog Museum'; 'You have to walk carefully in the beginning of love, the running across fields into your lover's arms can only come later when you're sure they won't laugh if you trip', and with these two in front of me I know that their relationship has been tested. But the fact that they are standing here, just proves that they have crossed that field and fallen into each others arms with laughter and love all the way, and they will remain that way for the rest of time."

Will nodded to Rachel, and his smile grew when he saw her bite her lip. She knew it was true; they were going to be with each other forever and nothing was going to stop them.

"The bride and groom have written their own vows." James announced, smiling at the couple in front of him. He stepped to the side and allowed them to have the floor to themselves.

The sound of the trickling fountain made it all so much more beautiful.

Will cleared his throat and took a quick breath. He raised his eyes and looked into Rachel's. Her whole face was lit up and smiling, and he could see the tears prickling already. And he could feel his own rising.

"Rachel, I will never forget the first song I heard you sing. You were auditioning for Glee Club and you sang, beautifully I might add, 'On My Own' from 'Les Miserables'. And you blew me away with your sensational voice of an angel, and ever since then you have continued to dazzle me and make love you with every breath I take. You also sang 'Get It Right', 'Loser Like Me', 'Pretending' and 'Out Here On My Own' and of course, who could forget when you sang 'Taking Chances'?"

The congregation chuckled a little at Will's memory. He smiled and lowered his tone a little, making his voice softer and more delicate.

"You are so wonderful Rachel, and I am so happy that I am going to spend the rest of my life with you. To me, you are not loser and, I don't know about you but, I feel that being with you means that I have finally got it right. And, by 'it' I mean my life, because I'll be sharing it with you. From now on, we won't need to keep pretending because we can finally show the world how much we love each other. We may have had our ups and downs and little bumps in the road to get where we are now," Will paused to frown a little and bit his lip before continuing, tell her the rest of his vow with sincere honesty. "But I promise you Rachel that you will never be on your own again. I watched you sing with Kurt, 'Happy Days' and with you, Rachel, I know that my life will be filled with happy days until the end of time." He couldn't hold back the huge smile that was appearing on his face. "With me you are taking chances and I can not wait to spend the rest of my life with you."

He sniffled towards the end of his vows but he blinked a few times to get rid of the feeling that he needed to breakdown and cry in front of her, and everyone else. Rachel heard her daddy sniffle and could feel her dad putting his hand on his to calm him down. Her mom, also comforting the man. She knew all three of them would be crying soon, and she would start them off.

"Will, you were my teacher and because of you I have learned so much. I remember when you and I sang 'Endless Love'. If someone would have told me that a few years later we would be standing here and getting married I would have been thrilled but to be honest I probably wouldn't have believed them either. To me Will, you are more than just my soul mate; you were my teacher, my coach and my friend. But you are more to me than those mortal qualities. I admired and respected you, I argued and fought with you, I laughed and cried with you, but most importantly I fell in love with you. You are my inspiration, my whole world and it's so cliché but you are the reason I live – besides Broadway."

A few chuckles were heard from the congregation and Rachel allowed herself to listen to them, but then focused her attention back onto Will, before she started crying.

"But Will, in all honesty, you are my endless love and love for you will never fade or go and I don't want it to. I'm going to spend the rest of my life with you and this is one journey that I cannot wait to take with you."

A few of the Glee Girls were sniffling now, even Santana who was trying to put it down to hay-fever and that all the flowers and sappiness was setting her off.

Shannon handed Will the ring, and Will took Rachel's delicate hand. He looked up into her eyes and said his second vow as he slowly slid it onto her finger.

"I give you this ring as a symbol of my love, my faith in our strength together, and my covenant to learn and grow with you. Let this ring be a symbol of my promises to you and a reminder of my devotion to you. I am honoured to call you my wife."

Shannon then handed Rachel the ring she was going to give to Will for her second vow of the day. Her fingers fumbled with it slightly, but she managed to hold onto it long enough for her to hold Will's hand and slide it on to her finger.

"This ring I give to you as a token of my love and devotion to you. I pledge to you all that I am and all that I will ever be as your wife. With this ring, I gladly marry you and join my life to yours. I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness. As I place it on your finger, I commit my heart and soul to you. I ask you to wear this ring as a reminder of the vows we have spoken today, our wedding day."

They were both smiling at each other; unable to control the gushes on their faces.

James turned to them both, Will still holding onto Rachel's hand and waited to be asked his question: "Do you, Will Shuester take Rachel Barbara Berry, to be your lawfully wedded wife?" Through a smile Will nodded his head and answered loudly but softly; "I do." He smiled again and took a quick breath; "I, William Shuester, take thee, Rachel Barbara Berry, to be my lawful wedded Wife; to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part."

James then turned to Rachel and asked her the same question: "Do you Rachel Berry, take William Shuester to be your lawfully wedded husband?" Again, Rachel nodded her head and a tear slipped from her eye. "I do. I, Rachel Barbara Berry, take thee, William Shuester, to be my lawful wedded Husband; to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, cherish, and to obey, till death us do part." Her voice was cracking and Will now had two tears falling from his eye.

"By the power vested in my by the state of Ohio and in the presence of God and the faces of this congregation I now pronounce you man and wife; you may now kiss the bride"

Without further pushing, Will took Rachel in his arms and gave her a sweet, chaste kiss and as the congregation clapped and congratulated them, Will scooped up his new wife and spun her around, both of them smiling into the kiss. One of the best kisses they had ever shared together.

**Hell everyone, me again! I didn't want to put this at the beginning because I didn't want to spoil the surprise. I've never been to a wedding so, again, I had to do some research on what actually happened in one. The vow order was pretty hard to do as I think it's different in countries and religions and stuff but...meh never mind! Stay tuned! **

**Plus, it is my eighteenth birthday tomorrow/today depending on when you're reading this, (31st October) so I won't write anything tomorrow but should have the next instalment at/by the weekend. **


	19. Lillys, Getting It Right and Dreams

**Sorry this chapter took such a long time to publish. Serious case of writer's block! The ending is kind of bad because I really just wanted to finish the chapter! **

**Chapter Eighteen**

**Lillys, Getting It Right and Dreams**

August. So much had happened in those thirty one days. Will and Rachel had spent almost all of their time together; when they weren't alone they were with Rachel's parents or he was hanging out with some of his friends. Adjusting to married life hadn't been as hard as they thought it had been. Although she was a married woman, Rachel's fathers still insisted that she lived with her, at least until the baby was born and so they could keep an eye on her. Therefore, Will had practically moved in with them. He still kept his apartment; the two of them had every intention of moving in together officially once the baby was born in October. A nursery had been created out of the box will had called a study and everything had been made baby proof. Rachel was exceptionally proud of the nursery; a neutral pale yellow with pink hearts and blue stars to symbolise that their baby would always be loved and always be seen as a star in their eyes. The carpet was a warm yellow too and the furniture was painted white with golden stars. Toys and books decorated the room and completed the look; all that was needed was the baby itself. Everything was perfect and both of them wished that the summer never had to end.

September. The new semester. The feeling of 'new' surrounded the air; new sheets on Rachel's bed, new schedules, new clothes and new excitements. Of course, what with a new year soon fast approaching, there were little surprises making themselves known. A particular little surprise was waiting for everyone. Of course that would be new too, but no one was really expecting it. That said, even Rachel Berry couldn't plan everything!

Will and Rachel woke to the sound of an annoying alarm clock; signalling Will's instructions to get up and go to work. They were tangled together; Rachel's head on Will's bare chest and his strong arms wrapped around her. Their legs were wrapped up with each other, buried under the sheets. In the night, Will had moved the sheet over his wife, so that she wouldn't get cold. It remained pulled up over her almost bare shoulders. Both had been dreaming of their future lives together; although they both couldn't wait to become parents, they still wanted to spend as much time together as they could.

And the continuous alarm clock wasn't helping.

Groaning, Will reached over and turned it off before snuggling back with his wife, kissing her shoulder and stroking her stomach. His lips pulled into a smile as he told himself once again that he would never get over the fact of calling the beautiful creature beside him his wife. Rachel's tank top had ridden up in the night and his fingers danced over her soft skin; making smooth circles on her like he was rubbing a lamp like Aladdin, only his genie would have to wait a little longer until it was time to come out. Sighing happily, Rachel smiled and moaned into the soft touches her husband gave her.

"You know you have to be up soon." She mumbled, lightly kissing his chest. She made a snail trail along his collarbone and sucking lightly on a specific point, before kissing over his fluttering heart. They had woken up together everyday, either at their soon to be own apartment or in Rachel's bed. Each day waking up more and more romantic than the next. Today was no exception, even though it needed to be. "I wish I didn't have to." Will sighed, as he placed his palm flat out on her stomach. Rachel smiled as she felt their baby kick his hand. "Me too," she held her hand on top of her husband's and moved it slightly lower so he could feel the full extent of their child's movements. Will adjusted himself so that he was lying half on top of Rachel, half on her. Lying on his side he placed his ear to Rachel's stomach. "What are you-"

"Shush!" Will shushed Rachel seriously but playfully as she giggled. "I think Tad-Penny is telling us something." Will whispered, his face made strange shapes as he 'listened' to the baby talk to him. He was pretending to be some sort of spy and Rachel ran her fingers through his soft curly hair, encourage him to stay where he was. He kept his hands on his wife's stomach, moving them over the perfect bump trying to keep it still whilst Rachel giggled.

"Ah ha!" Will exclaimed. Rachel bit her lip as she tried to stop herself from laughing. "I see!" He murmured like a mad professor. "What?" His wife giggled again, slightly more impatient with him. Will lifted himself off of Rachel and positioned himself on her body, arching himself as not to crush her blooming stomach. "Well," he lowered his face to Rachel's, smirking, "she says that we still have ten minutes of snuggle time before I absolutely have to get up for work." He wiggled his eyebrows and kissed her lips. Rachel giggled and slid her tongue into his mouth. To deepen the kiss further she then wrapped her arms around his neck and brought him closer. Will moved his hands up and down Rachel's sides and continued to kiss her. Their eyes closed and they felt the time slow down just for them. Kissing and feeling each other together; once the baby was born they might not get to be as intimate, but that wasn't the only problem as Rachel reminded Will as she cheekily broke the kiss. "Now you really have to get up." She whispered, rubbing her nose against his and kissing him once again. Her husband groaned and got up, walking over to Rachel's joining bathroom to shower. His wife watched him go into the bathroom and laughed as she heard him say; "You can join me if you want?" He winked at her before he closed the door, leaving it open slightly ajar however. She held her stomach and rubbed it lovingly. "Your daddy's silly isn't he?" She smiled brightly when she felt the baby kick against her in a reply.

Downstairs, Rachel ate her breakfast with her fathers as she waited for her husband to come down. She told him she would drive him to school, further to prove to the sceptics that they were a real, honest and committed couple and to further show just how much she loved him. Leroy was rushing around trying to find his brief case, with Hiram trying to help him whilst trying to find his special 'first day back at the firm' tie. Their daughter simply sat at the breakfast bar and waited for them to realise that the brief case was by the door where he always left it and his tied hanging on the back of the sofa where he also left not half an hour ago. Being the prompt and prepared woman she was, whilst her husband – she swore she would never get over saying that – was in the shower, she had her own shower and had gotten dressed and ready. Unknown to everyone she had a special appointment that would hopefully lead to many more firsts.

"Darling have you seen it?" Leroy asked Hiram once again. His husband huffed and stomped his foot, similar to Rachel. "Honey you have asked me that twelve times now I have not-"

"Morning everyone!" Will called cheerfully as he came down the stairs straightening himself out and then coming into the kitchen to kiss his wife. "Morning sweetheart," Rachel smiled in her sing song voice. "Good shower?" She asked with a hint of a seductive grin. Will turned his head to make sure Rachel's fathers weren't in the room. "It would have been better if you joined me." He growled playfully and kissed her again. "At the weekend I promise," Rachel licked her lips and took Will by his tied, kissing him again. "Now, come on you're going to be late!" She pushed him away slightly, but Will took hold of her hand and helped her off her stool. "Your carriage awaits my prince!" She giggled, as she lead him to the front door. "Bye dad, bye daddy!" She called as she opened the door. "Oh," she exclaimed as she put her head around the door, "dad, your brief case is by the door and daddy your tie is on the back of the couch!" Her and Will giggled further as they walked – hand in hand – to Rachel's car and continued to laugh and talk easily as Rachel drove her charming husband to school.

Later that day, whilst at the grocery store to pick up some ingredients for a special 'first day back at work' dinner for her three favourite men, and to try and soothe the judo karate kicking baby she was carrying, she ran into Brittany and Santana. They were in the chocolate aisle, discussing which one to buy.

"But white just tastes so good on you, Santi." Brittany pouted. Rachel heard Santana's eye roll, but her half hearted frustrated tone made her giggle as she stood close by and tried not to be seen. "B, it's chocolate it all tastes good on me!" Santana picked up a bar of dark chocolate, "besides having a bitter taste will even better because of the contrast; my sweet lady kisses and bitter-"

"But white is just so scrummy and creamy and it goes so well with your skin tone!" Brittany whined, pressing the two white bars of chocolate to Santana's chest. Again, the Latina rolled her eyes, but a light smile was forming on her lips; she really couldn't be mad at the blonde for long, especially when she pulled such adorable faces. "Britt Britt, it doesn't matter what colour it is; you're going to be licking it off of me!" At that point Rachel couldn't help but splutter and the Latina's once playful eyes were now scowling over at her.

"Hey Berry quit laughing at mine and Britt's evening plans!" She took Brittany's wrist and dragged her over to the smirking girl, who was trying hard not to smirk. "I'm sorry Santana," Rachel apologised quickly. "I wasn't laughing honestly. I was simply just formulating my opinion of the matter and indeed trying to work out a solution should Will and I be in a similar position." The brunette babbled. She truly was thinking about which chocolate she would chose for the two girls, but then thinking of what her and her husband would do. The thought made her blush and feel a little tingly, although the baby suddenly kicked again, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Berry I don't want to here about yours and Mr Shuester's positions!" Santana pretended to gag. Being the sexually charged girl she was, her mind was now filled with Berry and Mr Shuester 'doing it' and it made her shudder. She – like a lot of other kids from school – still hadn't got used to the idea of them being married and having a kid. She found it adorable how happy they were and how perfect they looked together, but she would never admit it of course. The blonde took hold of her girlfriend's hand and laced their fingers together as she stepped towards Rachel and put her other hand flat on her bump. "Oh I do!" Brittany chirped with a big grin on her face that truly lit up her eyes; "I think it's cute!" She smiled down at Rachel and continued to stroke her stomach, like it was her cat. "Do you think if you licked chocolate off Mr Shuester the baby would like it too, Rachel?" Curiously she asked, sending deeper blushes to Rachel's cheeks. "Okay I really don't want-" Santana was trying now get away from the situation. "I don't know Britt, Will and I really aren't that adventurous." Her teeth bit down on her bottom lip as her hand then took Brittany's and placed it slightly higher on her bump.

Brittany seemed to love stroking the brunette's bump and she took great care of it, scared that she was going to hurt the baby inside. As Rachel relaxed into the strokes of the other girl, she thought back to her 'acts' in the bedroom with Will. Rachel blamed it on her pregnancy for why they had only ever really played things 'safe'. In reality, the idea of getting up to the kinds of things that Santana and Brittany got up scared her a little. She'd never really seen herself as the type of girl to be into all the sorts of 'fun' that 'naughty' couples get up to. Really she loved nothing more than lying in her husbands arms and having him run his fingertips over her bump or him laying next to her and kissing her. They were tactile rather than intimate, passionate rather than animalisitic and that suited her perfectly. Of course that was probably going to change once their baby was born.

Her thoughts to be dragged out again by hearing the stroking blonde. "If you guys need help with making things more exciting then Sanny and I can help." She offered, much to the Latina's shock and slight disgust: help Berry be more sexual? Ugh who knew how long that would take! Blushing more, Rachel humbly thanked Brittany for her offer. She shifted the basket in her hand and smiled.

"Honestly Brittany, thank you for the offer but I think Will and I are fine with out sexual activities-"

"No you should totally come over and we'll show you!" The blonde nodded her head and beamed.

"No!" Santana shrieked, causing both girls to jumped and look over at a mortified Santana. "Brittany," growling slightly, eyes widening. "We are not having sex in front of Berry and Mr Shue!"

"No Santy we'll just tell them what to do." Her girlfriend shrugged as if there was nothing wrong in what she was suggesting. Santana looked over at Rachel who was still trying to stifle the urge to laugh and cause attention to themselves. "It's different Britt." The Latina whispered to Brittany.

"Why because they're a girl and a boy?" She frowned, confused at why Santana was making a fuss.

"And she's pregnant B!" The girl shrieked again, pointing at the bump that Rachel had. In the end Brittany rolled her eyes and looked at Rachel, still smiling. "So, come on Rachel what do you say?"

Rachel actually thought of the positives of this proposal, rather than the negatives. It would help for special occasions and to make her feel a little more grown up. Plus, Will deserved a 'wild night' after everything they had been through.

A small smile played on her lips. "Okay, sure." She said, smiling back at the girls. Brittany's eyes widened as she realised that she was going to be able to help Rachel in an area she was almost certain she was an expert in. She squealed with delight and jumped up and down and with Santana scowling at her, shaking her head. "On one condition," the Latina's voice broke out the hugging and screaming, "You teach Britt how to cook something good for tonight." Again, Rachel smiled and raised an eyebrow at the Latina. "Deal."

Back at the Latina's house, Rachel and Brittany went straight into the living room so they could talk without disturbing Santana. The whole way over she had given Rachel a lecture on what would happen if she was disturbed whilst sorting her and Brittany's 'Night of Passion Chamber'. Even though Rachel repeatedly insured her that she would not be going anywhere near the room, Santana still insisted on giving warning after warning, consequence after consequence on what would happen if she was distracted from her task. The normally ten minute car journey took extra long as there were road works being done, which only fuelled the Latina's rant. Brittany however just continued to rest her hand on Rachel's stomach and tried to talk to the baby and apologising on Santana's behalf for all the swearwords she used.

Once Rachel and Brittany sat down, Rachel frowned and placed her hands protectively on her stomach, sighing deeply and groaning a little. Brittany was unaware as she was getting comfortable on the squishy couch. Santana, however frowned at Rachel. "Hey, Berry are you okay?" She asked, still with a harsh tone, not wanting to show that she cared. Rachel took a few more deep sighs and and closed her eyes for a moment; the baby was really starting to get on her nerves with the marshal arts. "What?" She looked up at Santana once the baby had calmed down. "Yeah I'm fine."

"Is it the baby?" Santana asked, concern lacing her tone even though she tried to hide it. She walked over and was about to sit down next to the brunette when Rachel stopped her. She smiled and held her hand out for Brittany to take. "No. Well yes but it's fine, she's just kicking a lot today."

"She? So you know it's a girl?" The blonde asked excitedly, letting Rachel guide her hand to where the baby was frantically moving. "Well no but Will and I have been referring to the baby as a 'she'. It's better than calling her 'it' right?" Brittany nodded understanding and went back to stroking the bump where she had just felt the fluttering and kicking. Santana couldn't help but smile as she saw the scene in front of her; Brittany babbling away to the baby about how awesome it was to be a girl, even if the baby turned out not to be a girl and Rachel giggling at the attention and gentle strokes she was receiving. She couldn't help but imagine Brittany doing the same to her if they ever got married and decided to have baby of their own too. But that was one bridge she wasn't ready to cross yet. She rolled her eyes and scowled at the scene, noticing Rachel had caught her eye. "Whatever, I'm going to go sort out the bedroom."

Santana huffed out of the living area – glancing once again at the sweet scene – and then darted up the stairs as quickly as she could, grabbing the shopping bags on her way.

Back in the living room, Brittany had stopped stroking Rachel's stomach and had now begun talking to Rachel about her sex life. "So how many times do you and Mr Shue do it?" Brittany asked bluntly as she crossed her legs. The question made Rachel blush and if she was drinking something at the time she would have definitely spluttered the contents everywhere. "I'm sorry I can't answer that!" She giggled, her blush deepening. Brittany frowned at her not understanding. "It's just...well...first of all, it sounds a little odd when you refer to Will as 'Mr Shuester'."

"But he is Mr Shuester." Brittany questioned, still not understanding Rachel.

"I mean...yes he is, but to me he isn't Mr Shuester, he's Will. My husband." She smiled softly at the sweet girl sat in front of her. "But he isn't Will to me or my husband so I have to call him Mr Shue." "Well not any more Brittany because he's no longer your teacher and he's my husband."

"So it's okay if I call him Will?" Brittany asked, whispering his name in case it wasn't okay to call him by his name. Rachel chuckled again and smiled at the girl. "It is more than okay Brittany!" With that cleared up, Brittany beamed at Rachel and asked her question again. "So how many times do you and Mr..I mean..do you and Will do it?"

Even though the name had been cleared up, the brunette still blushed under Brittany's question. "Well...um-"

"You do do it right Rachel because no offence you're pregnant." Her face suddenly paled a little and her eyes widened again. "Wait, are you having baby Jesus? Because I know he was Jewish and stuff and he like invented Christianity and stuff but wouldn't that cause a little bit of tension-"

"No Brittany!" Rachel couldn't help but laugh out loud as loudly as she could. "No I'm not having baby Jesus! Will is definitely the father!" She managed to calm herself down to answer the girl's question. "Well...to answer your question Brittany." She cleared her throat and looked away from the girl's hawk eyes for a moment. "We haven't actually...we haven't made love for a while."

"Why not?" The crystal blue eyed girl asked.

"When Will came out of jail I had already been rather ill," she explained, swallowing softly at all the memories of the trial, "and we didn't want to do anything to hurt the baby or me any more."

"That's silly Rachel!" Brittany reached out and placed her hand back on the bump, "sex only hurts the first time and after that it's great. Plus I doubt it would have hurt too much with the baby."  
>"I don't know Brit," she sighed, trying to think of how to put across her words, "we were just scared about something going wrong. I know that it's natural to make love whilst being pregnant but..but we were just a little scared what we me being underweight and stuff-"<p>

"But you're better now," Brittany interrupted, "and it's natural to be scared to but think about it Rachel, once the baby comes, you might be to tired to have sex what with babies crying and pooping and taking up all your time. You might as well make the most of it now whilst you can!" She finished her little speech of with a bright smile and shrugged her shoulders. Rachel returned her smile and shrug with a soft, simple smile. "Thank you Brittany."

The blonde then took her hand off of the brunette's stomach, shuffled herself forward and wrapped her arms around her, encasing her into one of her famous 'Brittany Bear Hugs'. Rachel rested her chin on the girl's shoulder and closed her eyes. However, just as she was about to relax into the hug slightly more a sudden sharp pain hit throughout Rachel's lower abdomen and she gasped just as sharply. Her eyes snapped open and she grabbed her stomach, holding it and trying to soothe the pain. "Are you okay Rachel?" Brittany asked, releasing the girl from her grip. The girl stayed sat up in her position, trying to control her breathing as the pain increased. "Ow no!" She cried, her voice shaky and high, "No, no Brittany something is wrong, something is..OW!" Rachel howled, sending Brittany to stand on her feet and look really scared. "What's wrong? What's wrong?" She asked, putting her hands on Rachel's stomach, seeing if that would stop the pain. "Brittany it really hurts!" tears started stream down Rachel's face as early contractions started to kick in. "Santana!" She screamed as loud as she could, ending her scream with a string of ows.

Footsteps were heard thundering down. "What did I-" She stopped her cursing when she saw Rachel doubled over on the couch, clutching her stomach and crossing her legs, squeezing herself tightly. The girl continued to pant and voice her pain through a series of ows. Realising what was happening Santana exclaimed, "Aye Dios!" and rushed to the two girls. Brittany was shaking, still with her hands on Rachel. She was trying to calm her down by stroking her, explaining that whenever Lord Tubbington had a stomach ache she would rub his belly. She then scanned Rachel's body as she screamed again and frowned. "Rachel you peed!" She cried in shock at the incident. "San, why has Rachel peed?" She asked slightly terrified as the small girl cried out again. Now the Latina's eyes widened even more as she saw the couch's dark patch. Her first though was 'shit' her second 'my parents are going to kill me!'. But she didn't care to much about the latter, instead she climbed onto the couch and positioned herself at Rachel's legs, ignoring her protests. She ordered Brittany to dial for an ambulance and tell them to hurry; "Rachel's having her baby!"

Within half an hour Rachel's contractions had gotten considerably worse. Brittany had rung up the ambulance three times to see where it was, but because of the roadworks it was taking longer to get there. "I can't deliver a baby!" Santana screeched down the phone, sending more screams from Rachel. Brittany was holding her hand and trying to calm her down. "It's okay Rach, you'll be okay." She told her softly, stroking her hair and rubbing her tummy. The brunette leaned her head on the arm of the couch and tried to keep her breathing steady. "Oh my God it hurts so bad!" Rachel cried out, throwing her head forward and groaning she felt herself contract again send a burning pain to rip through her. "And I really need to push!" She screamed, scrunching up her eyes.

"No! You can't push, not on my parents' couch. Don't you dare push your baby Berry out!"

"Were you calling the baby 'Berry' or Rachel 'Berry'?" Brittany asked, thinking that the name 'Berry' would actually be quite cute."I..I don't know!" Santana yelled, "Oh my God this can't be happening!" She groaned and started to pace the floor, going to get Rachel a glass of water to sip.

"Santana may I remind you that you're not the one who is in labour here!" Rachel yelled even louder, grabbing the water out of the taken back Latina's hands and chugging it down her throat, just to throw it down. "Get me to a hospital please!" She begged, squeezing Brittany's hand to the point where it felt like it was going to burst.

Meanwhile, Will was rushing around in school, trying to organise substitutes for all of his classes. He had been rung by Santana – and hearing Rachel scream and beg for release – telling him that his wife had gone into an early labour and being ordered to get to the hospital. He ran the halls screaming at the top of his lungs; "I'm going to be a father! I'm going to be a daddy! Soy un padre!" "Hey Shuester what's all the screaming for? You had your first orgasm since impregnating Berry?" Sue scowled, folding her arms and rolling her eyes. Will was in too much of a good mood to argue. "She's having her baby!" He squealed excitedly, "Rachel's gone into labour, Sue! I'm gonna be a-"

"Yeah I heard you Will, you're going to be a dad!" She snapped, sick of his happy attitude. "What the hell are you still doing here? Go be with her! I never had you down for a student seducer but a jerk to by not being at your wife's side whilst she's in labour? That's a new one for you Will." She shook her head disapprovingly but Will rolled his eyes as he held onto her forearms. "I need to get someone to cover my classes, Sue but everyone's buys-"

"Oh busy shmizy, look Will you're wife is having your baby that's more important than finding a substitute for a bunch of teenager's who don't even care about the Spanish language anyway!" She brushed Will's hands off of her, "Come on Shuester what's wrong with you?" She asked, a little disgusted at his lack of caring about the situation. "I don't know," he sighed, still on his high, "I guess I'm a little worried. She's going to be a month early-"

"Even more reason to get there. She's going to be terrified! Let's go!" She instructed him to follow her as she stalked off towards the main doors of the building. "Wait, where are-"

"I'm driving you, now come on!" She called back and Will began to run after her.

Somehow, Santana and Brittany had carried Rachel out to Santana's car and now the Latina was driving like a mad woman, breaking all the rules, to get to the hospital. Rachel was resting against Brittany, the blonde stroking her hair and stomach, as she willed Santana to hurry. She cried and screamed, squeezing onto Brittany's arm. "I'm driving as fast as I frigging can Berry!" Santana yelled back, swerving a car and making the passengers jostle. "Move out of the way jackass!" She shouted out of the window. She beeped her horn furiously and continued to step on the gas. "Faster Santana!" Rachel called out, "Oh my God it hurts! I can feel it coming!"

"It's okay Rach, I'll talk to the baby and maybe that'll stop it from coming out." Brittany reasoned and began to babble on about unicorns and rainbows, magic and leprechauns.

As the two brunettes listened to the blonde talk, they both manage to drown out her words and they both hoped that the baby was doing the same. In fact Rachel's contractions had calmed down a little, and she urged Brittany to keep talking. "How you doing back there?" Santana asked, peering over her shoulder. It sounded like Rachel's contractions had stopped until she heard the girl moan and grunt, trying to shift herself so she could push, but Brittany held her legs still. "You can't push Rachel, the Baby Berry would never be able to get through your panties and your tights." She held Rachel's knees closed together and held them closed with her arm as she rubbed the girl's stomach. "I'm just so tired," Rachel sighed, breathing shallowly and slowly, "and it hurts." "Don't worry Rach, we're here." Santana said, slamming on the breaks and jumping out of the car.

Instead of running around to get the girls out of the car, she ran into the hospital and screamed to everyone in the waiting room and reception area; "I got a lady in labour and I needs to get a doctor to her now!" She glared at anyone and everyone who gave her a strange look. When she saw no one was coming to Rachel's rescue, she stopped her foot and kicked over the little table that held a few magazines. "Maybe I didn't make myself clear enough, necesito el medico ahora!" Probably a mixture of the destruction of the table and the yelling Spanish teenager, three nurses and a doctor rushed to the Latina and asked to see Rachel. Brittany had helped Rachel out of the car, and now the girl was being ordered to sit down in a wheelchair.

Soon she was in the delivery room and awaiting for her instructions to push. Even though not only forty minutes ago she wanted nothing more than to just push her baby out of her, now she wanted to keep her inside and wait for Will. Her husband was stuck in traffic but Sue was cutting corners, running red lights and even driving on the sidewalks.

Back in the delivery room, Rachel was trying with all her might not to push even though the doctors were insisting she push; she was now fully dilated and they warned her that the baby could get distressed if she didn't start pushing.

"Rachel honey, you are going to have to start push-"

"I can't!" Rachel cried, her cheeks were warm and her entire body ached, but she remained stubborn and didn't want to push until she saw her husband. Santana and Brittany were in the room with her; Brittany holding her hand and rubbing her lower back. She felt like she had broken as the only things she could do was rub Rachel's back and talk about unicorns. Her eyes were fixed on the gown that Rachel was wearing. There was nothing special or mesmerising about it, but it was as if the girl was stuck and concentrate on anything else. Santana however was a lot more focused. She broke free from Rachel's death claw and went to where the doctor was. 

Knowing she would curse herself afterwards, she didn't really care as she looked under the sheet and tried to see the baby, see if there was any way they could just pull it out of her that way she didn't have to push. She felt a little sick and actually nearly fainted, but she didn't care too much as she went back up to Rachel's head. 

"Rachel, you need to start pushing. Your baby is ready to come out and meet her mom, how would you like it if you had been waiting nine months to see a Broadway show but the actors refused to give you a performance?" She knew by bringing out the Broadway card that Rachel would listen to her. "Eight!" She squealed, which made Santana question her. "Eight months, she's a month early." "Whatever, eight months, it doesn't matter. Just let her come out Berry!" She then started to chant things in Spanish. Rachel was getting tired and shook her head. The other brunette sighed and pulled out her phone, ignoring a nurse telling her she couldn't use her phone in the delivery room. "If you won't listen to me then maybe you'll listen to Mr Shuester!"

Back in Sue's car, Will was cursing at the traffic in Spanish in his head, where Sue on the other hand was cursing in English and out loud. Sue had no idea about the traffic and was now beating herself up for not realising there would obviously be roadworks on the first day back of everyone going back to school and work just to aggravate everyone. Will was simply staring out the window and thinking about Rachel dealing with not only being in labour, but being with Brittany and Santana.

A vibration went off in his pocket and pulled out the phone. He glanced at the number and didn't recognise it. "Hello?" He was met by the sound of an angry Latina he knew all too well and smiled. "How's she doing Santana?"

"Not good Shue, she won't push!"

"Won't push?" Will asked, furrowing his eyebrows, "Why not? What's wrong?"

"She won't do it without you here!"

"Put her on the phone, let me talk to her." Will's voice was filled with concern and now he really wished that he could fly to get over to the hospital faster.

There was a little rustling as Santana held the phone out to Rachel. "Hello? Will?" She was crying and sounded so defeated and helpless, and exhausted. He beamed hearing her voice and bit his lip quickly to stop himself laughing with excitement and enthusiasm at the prospect of being a dad. "Rachel, mariposa, you need to listen to me. You have to start pushing." He told her seriously but still smiling. Rachel shook her head and groaned; "But Will-"

"No Rach, not buts." He stopped her. "Listen to the doctor, you need to push."

"No Will!" She cried and beat the mattress with her fist. "I wanted to do this with you! You promised we would do everything together. You promised you would hold my hand whilst I did this, you promised!" She sobbed down the phone and the sound of her crying broke Will's heart. They had promised to do everything together, they'd even talked about what would happen at the birth of their child and Will wanted to be with her so badly. He didn't want Santana and Brittany or anyone else to be her main rock, he wanted to be the one encouraging her and telling her how much he loved her and distracting her with dreams of their future with their baby. But now he was stuck in a car with Sue Sylvester and there was nothing he could do.

Sighing into the phone, he tried to give her some encouragement. It wasn't much, but it was still his calming voice and hoped that it would help her out. He may not have been there in body, but he was there with his voice. "I know, I know I did and I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm not there, I'm sorry I'm stuck in traffic but Rachel, please you have to start pushing. I promise I will spend every second with you two for the rest of my life, but please start pushing. Go on with out me and I'll be there as soon as I can." Rachel's body was giving away now and she knew she couldn't hold on for much longer. "Really?" Her voice was straining as the urge was getting too much for her to handle.

"Yes Rach. Mariposa,I promise with all my heart and soul. I promise!"

The line was then clouded by the sound of several screams and shouts, commands from the doctor and words of encouragement from Brittany and Santana. "Come on Rach," Will chanted, "Come on Petal, you can do this-" He was cut off as his battery died. "No!" He yelled and stared at it angrily.

"Come on Rach, she's almost out!" The doctor told her, "She's crowning." Rachel had been pushing and panting for what felt like an eternity. In reality, she had only been pushing for just under two hours. She had been so ready to push, but for some reason the baby just hadn't budged. "Come on Berry keep going!" Santana told her whilst gritting her teeth as the small brunette panted and squeezed her hand. "Almost there!" The doctor called excitedly as she prepared to pull the baby out for its final stage. "I can't! I can't!" Rachel protested, almost flopping back. Santana had had enough. "Come on Rachel where's your fighting spirit?" She shouted at Rachel, not realising that this was one of the first times she had called the girl by her real name. "This is your baby, are you really going to let her boss you around and not push her out? Come on Rach, you've let us push you around for years and now it's your turn to finally push someone! Push that baby out!"

In one long growl Rachel pushed down as hard as she could and within a few minutes the room was filled with the beautiful sound of Rachel's baby crying.

"Congratulations Mrs Shuester," the doctor congratulated, "it's a girl!"

Rachel had flopped down onto the bed, shattered and rain with exhaustion, and had Brittany stroking her hair and squealing at how beautiful her little girl was. "She's more beautiful than rainbows and cuter than unicorn foals and more magical than fairies!" Santana was amazed at what she had just witness; she'd helped someone deliver a baby. Not directly, but sure she held Rachel have her baby. It made her think of Quinn and how she wished she had helped her deliver Beth, but still, she had helped Rachel give birth to her little Berry, and she actually felt proud of herself. Also a little mushy, but she blamed all of the cooing and all of the hormones. Even if she was covered in goo, Rachel's little girl was still a really pretty baby; Rachel's skin colour and tiny features but definitely had Mr Shuester's nose – even though all babies had squished button noses, Santana could still see she had her dad's nose, a fact she smiled at knowing she could make a joke about the lack of beak the girl had. "She's awesome Rach." She gushed as the nurse carried her over and placed the tiny bundle on Rachel's chest. "She's so tiny Rach!" Brittany cooed, moving around to stand by her girlfriend, linking pinkies with her.

Smiling and with tears in her eyes and exhaustion being taken over by love, Rachel looked down at her little girl. She had Will's eyes – even though all babies are born with blue eyes – she definitely had Will's eyes. Her little eyes looked up at her mother and her lips opened and closed making a little popping noise, like a little fish. Rachel was panting slightly, but managed to fight against her fatigue and stroke her baby girl's hair. It was sticking up and was the softest touch her fingertips had ever felt. Her daughter held onto her finger and continued to stare up at her mom. "Hi baby," Rachel whispered, "I'm your mom!" She was feeling overly emotional, but somehow managed not to cry.

Will rushed into the maternity ward and ran down the halls looking out for the room that he had been told his wife and daughter were in. He didn't have anything to bring and felt kind of guilty when he saw all the other rooms had flowers and toys and balloons decorated in them. He thought about stopping and grabbing something, but just couldn't calm the excited nerves her felt; he had a daughter, a little girl. Terri had told him they were having a girl. He had been heartbroken when he discovered the lie. He felt dead. His little girl never existed, but now she did. She was somehow brought back to life by the use of Rachel. His wife. The wife he was meant to have all along. His long awaited for little girl and unbelievable wife were waiting for him.

Finally he reached the room and went inside. Instantly a smile grew on his face; his beautiful wife was dressed in a pink fluffy robe, her hair tied back with a red hair band to keep off her cooling down face, smiling down at their precious daughter with a little tear sliding down her cheek. His daughter had a little pink hat on and was still gazing up in awe at her mommy.

"Mi mariposa," walking into the room he gushed, "mi mariposa hermosa." He couldn't believe it. Part of him still wanted to pinch himself; he had a wife and a daughter and he loved them so much he could literally feel the walls evaporate and find himself being transported into heaven. He was in heaven. He had everything he ever wanted; a wife that loved him no matter what and a daughter he could be a protective but fun father too. His zoned out gaze was interrupted as he heard his wife call out to him. "Will, come look." Rachel took her eyes off of her daughter for a brief moment to look at her star struck husband. He walked over to them both and planted a kiss on his wife's head. "Hey you," he said as he sat himself down on the edge of the bed to look at his daughter, holding and bringing her against his torso. Rachel sighed happily into the warm embrace of her husband. Their daughter wriggled in her mother's cradle arms and continued to look up at her mom, not bothering to see who the intruder was; she was too transfixed on her mom's face. "Look Petal," Rachel smiled, speaking softly and quietly, as if speaking in a normal volume would somehow break her, "it's your daddy." She looked up at him as could feel more ecstatic tears filling her eyes. "Do you want to hold her?" She asked, biting her lip and smiling more as Will nodded his head and took the tiny tot from her arms. Carefully he held her and shushed her as she started to grumble. "It's okay," he shushed, "it's okay Petal." He smiled at Rachel at the use of the name and allowed her to rest her head against him. Her eyes feeling heavy and knew she might drift off into a dream filled sleep any moment, now that the baby was no longer in her arms.

The moment Petal looked at him and into his eyes, Will felt himself well up with tears. She was soft and cuddly but real. He just couldn't shake from his mind how real she was, how real everything was. For the past year he had been existing in a dream, now he had woken. They both had woken, and were living the dream they had always wanted to. "Rach, she's perfect." He whispered to her. Rachel wrapped her arm around Will's waist, snuggling more into him and sighed in admiration at the sight of her husband and daughter. "She is isn't she." She said quietly, feeling the need to sleep begin to take more of an effect. The high and intoxication of being in labour had settled and now she just felt drowsy and sleepy. "Hey, Rach, we're a family!" Will cried, turning his face slightly to Rachel's. "We are. I can't believe it, we're a family!" Rachel sniffled, smiling as a few tears fell from her eyes. Will leaned down, giggling a little and giving his wife a well earned and deserved kiss.

Whilst Rachel and Petal were sleeping, Will went outside to the waiting room to make his way to the little cafeteria to grab himself something to drink and make a couple of calls, where he found Santana and Brittany. The blonde with her head in her girlfriend's lap snoozing like the babies in the hospital and the brunette stroking her hair tentatively and looking down at her with love filling her eyes. He walked over, smiled and sat down by the Latina. "Santana you did a great job."

"Thanks Mr Shue, I mean it's not like I delivered the baby I only made sure she didn't pop on my couch!" She shrugged and continued to stroke the angel in her lap's hair. Will grinned at her modesty and at the affection she showed to Brittany. The poor girl was gone to the world, and Santana stayed with her like a lioness protecting her cub. Only, she was her girlfriend, and he could see how much they loved each other. He placed his hand on her shoulder and gave her a thankful squeeze, still feeling guilty at not being able to be there for his wife and daughter in person. "Still you did a really good job of keeping her calm and getting her here. She told me about your crazy driving and how you kept her sane during Brittany's rant about unicorns!" He chuckled.

"Well you know, I am pretty awesome." She smirked, causing Will to laugh and pinch the bridge of his nose to stop himself from waking Brittany. "You certainly are Miss Lopez. Maybe you should be a midwife." Santana's face gave him an expression of horror. "Or maybe not?" Will questioned.

"No thanks Mr Shue, no offence but there's only one woman's pussy I want to see and get a good view." Will cringed, not wanting to know the intimate details of Santana's relationship with Brittany. "Thanks Santana. I'm really glad you shared that with me." He tired to chuckle, but just couldn't bring himself to. "Sorry." The girl blushed. She berated herself at revealing a little too much information about her personal life. Still, it's not like he was her teacher any more and she was a grown woman now – well, sort of – so she could do whatever she wanted. Plus, once her and Brittany got to college at the beginning of October, they would be free to do even more stuff.

After a little pause she cleared her throat and looked at him. "What are you calling her Mr Shue?" She asked, curiously. "Well, first you can call me Will." He gave her a look, raising his eyebrow and tilting his head at her, before breaking out into a proud smile. "And second, her name is Lilly. Lilly Erin Berry-Shuester." He smiled thinking of his two girls sleeping soundlessly not too far away. "That's a really cute name." Santana commented, "I'm glad she doesn't have a stupid name."

"What do you mean?" Will questioned, unsure how any name their daughter could have would be stupid. Santana smirked at him; "Well, I had my money on her being called after every single female Broadway character in history." Will laughed out loud this time unable to stop himself. The blonde in Santana's lap mumbled something and then went back to sleep. After a few seconds of them both calming down, Will turned to Santana again; "We're calling her 'Petal' too, as kind of like a nickname."

"That's cute too. A lot better than 'Baby Berry' which is what Britt wanted to call her."

"Well, baby Berry is cute too."

"No Will, she's Petal. Let's face it, she's only part Berry but she's also part Shuester." Santana shrugged, giving him a quick wink and a quirky smile. "Thanks Santana." He said, grinning and thinking about his wife and daughter once again. "Mi maroposa y mi flor." He muttered.

"_Your precious girls have your eternal love, you're the luckiest guy in the world._"

"Muchas gracias, Santana."

"De nada."

A few days later Rachel and Lilly were allowed to come home from the hospital. Because of Lilly's early arrival, home was still at the Berry residence, however within a week of her staying there, Rachel and Will decided it was about time their little family lived with Will in his own apartment, as that was where they had decided to set up 'home' together.

The phone rang just as Rachel was about to put Lilly down in her cot. The ringing made the little girl cry out and Will took her from her mother's arms so she couldn't answer and sit down for a little while. She picked up the phone and sank down into the couch spoke into the receiver. "Hello?"

Meanwhile, in their bedroom where Lilly was being rocked by her daddy, Will was talking to her. "You're the most beautiful baby in the world Lilly, yes you are, yes you are! And you know why? Because your mommy is the most beautiful woman in the world and your daddy, well, I've been told, I am the most handsome man in the world, so it's only right that you're the most beautiful girl in the world." He continued to gush and coo, kissing her forehead and patting her back over his shoulder. His gushing was cut short by the sound of Rachel entering the room.

"Will?" Rachel came in the room; her eyes wide and glossed over.

"Hey Butterfly." Will beamed, placing a soft kiss on his daughter's static hair.

"How's Petal?" Rachel asked, concerned that she was gone for ten minutes away from her precious little girl. Will smiled and held her waist, bringing her closer to him and planting a chaste kiss on her worried temple. "She's good. I just got her to settle down. She likes it when I rock her." He giggled and went to put her back in her cot, now that she was asleep. He placed a soft pink bunny by her head and stood back up. As he turned back to face Rachel, he saw she had a frown on her face and her lip between her teeth. "What's wrong?" He asked taking her hand and rubbing circles into the back of it, trying to get rid of the frown and worry in her mind. Rachel looked up at him and angled her body so she was looking up into his soft, warm eyes. "I got it." She whispered.

"What?" Will asked, moving his face towards her so he could hear her better. A little smile appeared on Rachel's face. "I got it Will. I got the part. They just called. I..I'm going to New York." She could feel her shoulders shaking a little, but her bit down on her smile to stop her from crying.

"No." Will shook his head and held her other hand. "We're going to New York."

"Really?" Rachel asked, an excited tear slipping from her eye.

"Absolutely." Will beamed; feeling so proud of his wife at getting the part of a lifetime.

As Will hugged and congratulated her, Rachel remembered the day she had her audition. Not only because it was the day she had been offered the part of a lifetime, but also because it started off her journey of being a mother.

She was pregnant when she found out about the auditions. It was the first day of the new school year and Rachel had to keep her plans a secret. She drove will to work and went to the open call. Her mind harboured every doubt that she wouldn't even be allowed to audition if the casting directors knew she was pregnant. So, she cleverly disguised her small, but still rather obvious, bump. Wearing a blue and white stripy sweater – that was at least three sizes too big for her – with a giant Eiffel Tower on it and a pair of jaggy blue jeans, she had never felt more unattractive! Still, it was a good thing the role she was going for wasn't an attractive role; a member of the chorus for the up and coming productions of 'Les Miserables'.

The musical would, of course, be played in New York: on Broadway! She had been told that the auditions for members of the chorus were only running for the day and then they would be told if they got in or not later that week. New York and Broadway had been Rachel's dream since she could remember. She could not mess this up. However, there was just one small problem.

Nervous didn't quite cover how she was feeling. Her legs were trembling and her hands were fidgeting. Further adding to her sick feeling, the baby was kicking and moving around like a little lost fish trying to find their way back home. Rachel tried not to show how uncomfortable it was; she didn't want to give away her secret.

"Next!" The voice called after hearing another average singer perform 'Can You Hear the People Sing'. The director, a thin pale looking man with a pointy beard and curly red hair, was clearly frustrated and was wishing he had never decided to hold the open auditions. "What was I thinking," he mumbled angrily at the two people beside him, "this is Ohio! No one here can sing!" That was when Rachel stepped onto the stage. She smiled at the man, not her usual Rachel Berry thousand watt smile, but a sweet little smile. Trying to hide her nerves she stuck her hands behind her back and held them close together. The director looked up at her whilst his two assistants scribbled notes. "Name?" He asked, bored but trying to sound professional. His pen already in his hand with the ink ready to spill on the page, but also the lid ready in his other hand to stop her. The little brunette cleared her throat. "Rachel. Berry-Shuester. But, I prefer Rachel Berry." Further masking her nerves she bit the inside of her cheek. "And how old are you?" He asked, still not very interested. "These auditions are for eighteen to thirty year olds-"

"I'm eighteen sir." Rachel interrupted him. She knew that wasn't the best thing to do, but she had focused so hard on not trying to look pregnant that she had completely forgotten to make herself look her age.

It never really bothered her – or Will – before with her youthful looks, but occasionally she would get worried by the looks she got when trying to buy eighteen films or trying to do something that any other eighteen year old could do easily, and needing to show the cashier her drivers license.

Raising his eyes and peering over the rims of his glasses, the director smirked a tiny, amused smile. "What are you going to sing for us, Miss Berry?" He asked, scribbling a few notes on his piece of paper without looking down at the page. A little flicker of smugness overcame Rachel's lips. Her posture relaxed and she uncurled her fingers. "Well, as this is an audition for Les Miserables, I thought I would sing something from the show itself." She noticed the bored expression on his face return, only making her smug attitude grow. "How very original." The director rolled his eyes and looked away from her, now putting the lid on his pen. "Begin whenever-"

"However," she interrupted him again which made him shoot his head up quickly, "I thought that, same as you, that would be too obvious. So, I have decided to sing a song I have composed myself." She watched with joy as she saw all three of the directors sit up and give her their full attention. A woman with hollow eyes and a thin mouth spoke; "You have written a song for this audition?"

"No Miss, I wrote it for my school Glee Club's Regional's performance."

"And how did that go?" The woman asked, clearly intrigued.

"It went very well." Rachel replied, taking her time to show her effective dramatic pause.

"How well?" The woman narrowed her eyes, seeing that Rachel was a girl who liked to be asked questions about her talents. Rachel smiled wider, held her hands in front of her body now. "It won us the chance to go to Nationals."

After a few moments of mumbling the three directors nodded their heads, instructing that she should sing whenever she was ready. Rachel took their nods as a positive sign, and nodded her own head towards the man in charge of playing the backing tracks.

To say the directors were impressed would be an understatement. Will had been taken back by her voice, brought to tears by the emotion and sincerity in the words she sang. Everyone who heard her sing was blown away had their breath stolen from her. These three directors were no exception. As Rachel sang 'Get It Right', each director tried to hold in their astonishment at the little diva in front of them. Not only did she have the voice, but she had the stage presence. Her whole face and body glowed; she sparkled with talent and enthusiasm. It was something that no actress, no matter how good she was, could fake. She completely breathtakingly brilliant.

As she finished the last note, Rachel had a tear slipping down her cheek. She always cried in an emotional performance, and this was no exception. She wasn't expecting an applause, but a little one would have been nice. This was, however, an audition and so she didn't really think she would get one. Instead, she was met by three stunned face all three of them trying to hide how they truly felt about the little Berry that had graced them with her presence. The triplet looked at each other and spoke in hushed whispers. Her nerves returned, and her hands were back around her body. However this time, she hugged herself and tried to keep her baby from moving. "Miss Berry," the male director spoke up, he cleared his throat to remain professional and to hide his excitement. "We'd like to hear you again. Only this time for a different part."

"Which part?" Rachel asked, curious to know if she would be auditioning for a chorus member with lines. The man smiled and placed the cap back on his pen. Standing he brought his hands together, as if he had just been applauding his new found star. "Éponine"

Of course, a few hours later she had completely forgotten about the part as she now had her mind fixed on living a new part; mother.


	20. Chapter Nineteen: So Long Ohio

Chapter Nineteen

So Long Ohio

A few weeks after Erin's birth (or Petal, as her parents and grandparents called her) Will and Rachel were happily and officially settled into Will's apartment. Typical of new parental life, the days were long and the nights were longer. Will joked that Erin had definitely inherited Rachel's impeccable lungs, to which Rachel joked back that she couldn't wait to send her into singing lessons so she could really show off and use her lungs. They had their fairy tale dream come true. With Will being allowed a few off for paternity leave, they did everything together so that they could be the best parents they could be. Every morning when little Erin would cry out for one of them, they would both drag themselves out of their bed and shuffle the few steps to her bassinet – a gift from none other than Sue Sylvester. Even though Rachel was breastfeeding, Will would help her out and make her comfortable, he'd burp Erin and dance around with her when she wouldn't stop crying. With Rachel's impeccable organisation skills, they even had a diaper schedule pinned up on the refrigerator: Will may have been a great father, but he was still a guy! Diaper changing was his least favourite job!

The day of Erin's first bath was a special one for the two parents. So special in fact that Will set up his camera to capture every moment. Where he kept his nerves of the event bottled up, Rachel let hers flow as freely as the tap that was fill up the tiny baby bath. "Will are you sure she's ready? I mean, she doesn't smell and we keep her clean. We use those baby wipes of her and keep her nails nice and short so she doesn't scratch and-" Will silenced his wife with a peck to her lips and held her by the shoulders to calm her down. When he pulled back, he bopped her on the nose and looked her deep in the eye. "Rachel, calm down. She's old enough and it's great bonding." He kept staring into her eyes, trying to silently reassure her, until Rachel sighed and nodded he head. The two of them then went over to their babblng little princess, picked her up and began to give her first bath. The water was warm and sloshed over her soft skin and she cried out with delight. She was too young to produce real giggles, but Will and Rachel knew by these strange happy sound she was making that she was certainly trying to. Once they were satisfied she had had enough water fun, Will picked her up and wrapped her up in the gentled textured yellow towel that Rachel had draped over her arms. As he settled his precious daughter into his wife's arms, Will commented; "See, that wasn't so bad was it?" Rachel wrapped her little girl more to make sure she was snuggled and drying, and looked up at her husband. "It was perfect," she smiled and already knew she couldn't wait for Erin's other 'firsts'.

Having Rachel lay in his arms whilst she fed their daughter, Will couldn't believe that eighteen years old just how amazingly mature she was. She was a mother and wife all at such a young age. Where her friends from Glee Club were heading out to college or getting jobs, she was a wife with a baby. He wondered sometimes whether he was being fair to her. Whether the life they had was fair to her. But then, just as those doubts of whether their relationship should never of happened, Erin would wriggle and squeak out, fixing her huge chocolate brown eyes on his and Rachel would follow suit with her own brown eyes. And with their matching dark eyes, he would internally curse himself for ever thinking that Rachel was unhappy with their life. Their baby was only a few weeks old, and he knew he couldn't fall too deep into thinking they had the 'perfect life', but in the pit of his stomach and at the front of his mind, Will knew that they would be happy. Really happy, and not just happy for the sake of happiness.

Behind her husband's back, Rachel had been receiving information about the upcoming 'Les Miserables' show in New York. She still hadn't told Will about her basically starring in a real Broadway show of possible the best Broadway show there ever was. What with Erin and moving, she just somehow hadn't found the time. Ironically, even though Will had been at home because of his paternity leave. Knowing that she had to be in New York in two months, she knew that she had to tell him. It was hard though; would he think she was being selfish? Not just to him but to Erin as well. Yes, Broadway was her dream but wasn't having a family her new dream? A dream that she and Will had fought so hard for? Will had gone to prison for this life and there was no way she could just change her mind and tell him that she had actually gone back to her old dream. But…had she really let go of that dream? The short answer: no, she had never let go of her dream to star on Broadway. That was why she hadn't told him about the audition. It was certainly the reason why she hadn't told him she had gotten the part of a lifetime. Still, it was a now or never moment. She had to tell Will that she would be going to New York to follow her dream, and she absolutely still wanted her family with her.

"I dreamed a dream in time gone by," she whisper sang to a now sleeping Erin. Will pressed a soft kiss to Rachel's temple and then eased himself out from behind her so he could put Erin in her bassinet. "I hope your hopes are still high," Will joked to his wife, pressing a kiss to his daughter's forehead and placing her gently down. Rachel smiled at him and waited for his arms to hold her again. "They are yes," she told him and tilted her head back once Will had her back in his arms. She pressed a kiss to his jaw and continued; "My life is still worth living too, if that was your next question." Will chuckled and snuggled down with her, deeper into their bed clothes. He pressed several kisses onto her shoulders and neck and laid them down more so they were both resting their heads on the pillows but still with his arms wrapped around her. They stayed in a comfortable silence, listening to the soft breaths of their sleeping baby girl. It was in this comforting moment that Rachel sighed and knew she had to tell Will the truth. Well, not so much 'the truth' but reveal the secret she had been keeping since the day Erin was born.

Carefully, the brunette rolled in her husband's arms and faced him. She stared into his war eyes and then trailed her fingers up his covered body, latching them in his hair and running them through his curls. "I have to tell you something," she whispered, biting her lip and trying to read Will's expression to see if it had changed at all. It hadn't: he simply stayed smiling at her as he nodded his head. Taking a deep breath, Rachel licked her lip and looked down for a moment. "I had an audition a few weeks ago. It was 'Les Miserable', only a small chorus part, but the directors and producers were so impressed with my audition that they gave me the part of Éponine. They gave it to me right on the spot and it was all because I sang 'Get it Right' and they were so impressed and-" Just like whenever she rambled on a little too much for him to understand, Will kissed her lips and put a stop to her adorable rambling. "Slow down Rachel," he told her once his kiss stopped. His face was now, Rachel noticed, not quite so smiling. "When was your audition? I don't remember you saying?" Rachel then told him that it was the day she gave birth to Erin. She wanted to tell him once she got home, but of course by going into labour she didn't really have the chance. Will nodded his head and then frowned, "You got the part of Éponine?" And Rachel nodded, biting her lip to stop herself from grinning too widely, "By singing the song you wrote that got us to Nationals?" Again, Rachel nodded her head and couldn't stop the beam on her face. Will's own face broke out in a beam and he hugged his wife to his body, congratulating her over and over. But then, realisation dawned on him: he knew the theatres in Lima and he also knew nowhere was putting on 'Les Miserables', considering they had already put it on not so long ago. He pulled back and slowly asked her; "Where is it being put on?"

Sighing once again, Rachel knew this was where their trouble could begin. She slowly dragged her eyes up from his lips to his own and whispered; "New York." Her husband's eyes widened almost comically and then he sat up, almost making her fall straight onto the mattress. "New York?" He exclaimed, "As in Broadway New York? You've got the part of Éponine in a Broadway production?" Rachel couldn't tell if he was angry and so she simply nodded his head. Getting out of bed, Will then let out an exasperated sigh. His back was facing Rachel and she was suddenly afraid that he was going to yell at her. Clambering to her knees Rachel then began to apologise beg. "Will I'm so sorry," she began, crawling to the end of the bed. "I know this messes up our plan and makes things difficult for us and I know I should have told you about the audition and the part sooner but I just couldn't. Not with Erin and moving and…and I know that you've only really just gone back to teaching and so this messes everything up with you. But please Will, this is my dream. New York and Broadway have always been my dream, but having a family is my new dream and-"

"When we do we have to leave?" Will asked, calmly and softly. Rachel was a little startled by his question. More startled at the fact he asked 'we' and not 'you'.

Sniffling and wiping her cheeks, Rachel watched as Will turned around and gasped at the huge smile he wore on his face. "What do you mean, we?" She asked in a timid whisper. His smile growing, Will crawled back onto the bed and brought Rachel into his lap. "I mean 'we' because do you really think I would let you go to New York and live your dream without me?" Rachel sniffled and shook her head, and pleaded questions into his eyes. Cupping her cheek, Will spoke softly and quietly and yet as excitedly as he could without waking up Erin; "This is your dream Rachel. Your dream is to be on Broadway. You have your dream of being a mom but that wasn't your only dream. I want you to be happy, Rachel. And the fact that you've gotten this part…amazingly gotten this part…what kind of a husband would I be to stop you from achieving it?" Even though Rachel wanted to just wrap her arms around his neck and squeal in delight, she knew they had to be practical. Yes, she was still young and kind of immature, but her husband was not and they both needed to see the black and white as well as the colour. "But what about the practicalities?" She asked, just as timidly. "What about your job and the apartment and-"

"We'll figure it all out Rachel, I promise." He whispered, laying her back down and snuggling with her. "I just want to take this night as the night where I have never felt more proud of you."

Smiling and still sniffling, Rachel kissed her husband and together they dreamed of the new adventure would be starting together: Broadway and New York. The dream they had always dreamed.

Early December came and the little family was heading off on their adventure. As they sat waiting for the plane to take off, Will took hold of Rachel's hand and brought it to his lips. "This feels just like the first time we went to New York," he told her; eyes shining. Rachel beamed at him and pressed a kiss onto his lips. "I just hope this time you won't be as scared," she joked but Will didn't laugh. He simply wrapped his arm around her and made her rest her against his shoulder. "I'm not scared, not with you." For the first time in their lives, neither were scared. Not even nervous, because they knew that this would be yet another decision that would be one of the best they would ever make. "So long Ohio," Rachel muttered as they became airborne and she snuggled herself and Erin deeper into Will's sleepy embrace.


	21. Epilogue: Happily Ever After

Epilogue

Happily Ever After

Three years didn't seem like a long time. In that time, Rachel had done the almost impossible and made a name of herself. Since arriving in New York in early December three years ago, Rachel had been on Broadway and hadn't done much else. She sang and danced and acted her heart out up on the big name stages of New York. She had done a year of 'Les Miserables' and it had been one of the best experiences of her life. Up there with marrying Will and giving birth to Erin. She swore that for the rest of her life, she would never forget the moment she stepped out onto the stage dressed as Éponine and about to sing, looking down on the front row of the opening night, in summer and seeing her husband with their almost year old daughter sat on his knee. Her fathers were there and so were Quinn, Santana and Brittany. That night when she sang, she sang for them and couldn't believe that she had achieved both of her dreams: staring in a Broadway show and being a mother. Once her contract ended with 'Les Miserables' she was almost immediately snapped up to be in another production. Once one show ended, another began and Rachel still had to ask Will to pinch her just to make sure it wasn't a dream. Instead of pinching her, however, he simply kissed her and whispered; "Your dreams came true, Rachel. Now believe it!"

Now, three years later, at the tender age of twenty one, she sat in the late July sun with her husband in Erin's favourite park. Well, the park her parents had deemed to be her favourite, considering it was the closest to their home. Will had been busy with his new teaching position and was thankful for the weekend. Moving to New York meant looking for a new job, as well as looking after baby Erin. It was tough for them, what with Rachel's relentless rehearsals and then performing. Financially they struggled a little: Will had sold their apartment back in Ohio and used the money to rent one in New York. It was smaller and darker than the one in Lima, and this was particularly difficult for Will to deal with. Since he looked after Erin during the day and then worked teaching Spanish and a little English in the evenings. Christmas was difficult, as neither had envisaged having a small tree with recycled decorations and barely any presents. But they had made the most of it by saying it was like they were living 'The Gift of the Magi'. But once Rachel got her first big pay check at some point during February and then again in March, they were able to really start living the New York dream.

They began living like 'real' New Yorkers with a nice mix of stereotype: eating bagels and drinking coffee regularly, taking strolls in Central Park at the weekends and of course seeing all the sights. However, where it was perfect for them, Will and Rachel talked about how it wasn't perfect for Erin. Yes, they loved living in New York and with their jobs (especially Rachel's) it was great, but it wasn't what they wanted for their family. Where they knew people were raising their families in New York apartments or houses in places like the Bronx and Queens, the two parents knew it wasn't what they wanted. They were, after all, still small town people. So, once Erin turned one, they decided to move out of the city and into a cute little suburb in New Jersey. It was cheaper and better for them to live there. Will got a job at the local high school and was even able to co-direct the school's Glee Club – with Rachel making specialist appearances.

Today, the warm sun was beating down on Will and Rachel. Will was lying on a blanket, with food and toys scattered around him, and Rachel was lying across him. Rachel was dressed in a like peach floating dress and dark shades and Will was wearing his favourite pair of light blue chinos and white shirt with just enough buttons undone so his wife could stroke her cool fingers on his warm chest. Where Rachel was catching some rays, her husband was keeping a close eye on their twirling daughter. Her red summer dress and flowing brown hair fluttered around her with each whirl she made and her happy laughs were echoed around them whenever a butterfly came near her or a gush of wind tickled her. Even though she was barely a foot away from them, Will still couldn't help but call out to her; "Erin! Be careful sweetheart!" His bubbly daughter stopped her movements and looked over at her father. Hearing her husband, Rachel sat up beamed at her little girl. "She's okay Will," she laughed, seeing that she wasn't hurt and was in fact just enjoying herself. "Let her toddle around," the young mother suggested, reaching over to her bag and taking out the sunscreen. Where their little girl had inherited her brown hair and eyes (and adorable height) she had also gotten Will's slightly paler skin. As Rachel called over their toddling toddler, Will took his water bottle and sighed; "I know, I know. I just worry." He took a swig of his water before placing the little girl on his lap, holding her in place whilst his wife slathered her arms, face and legs in more sunscreen. "Well don't; she's an adventurous little girl," Rachel chuckled, kissing her daughter's head and standing her up, "Let her explore." She told her husband, not before placing a big kiss on her daughter's head and giving her a swift tap on her bottom, pushing her slightly so she could go and play again.

Just as she predicted, Erin caught sight of a fluttery butterfly and squealed after it – not before yelling "Bye-bye Mommy! Bye-bye Daddy!" behind her – and tried to catch it, leaping and jumping; practicing her baby ballet movements. Will watched with a quiet smile as he wrapped his arm around his now sitting up wife. "I just don't want her to get hurt." Rachel pressed a kiss to his slightly stubbly cheek and whispered in his ear; "You're such a protective father." She snuggled slightly into him – now both their eyes watching every movement of their wonderful child. Just as Erin thought she had caught the butterfly, she opened her hands and saw that it wasn't in fact in her hands. She pouted and stomped her foot, but then she saw it and chased after it again. Will chuckled, "Just wait until she's old enough to start dating!" Rachel then pushed away from Will and lightly tapped his chest with her hand. "Please let our daughter have boyfriends Will!" Her husband then laughed again and lightly ruffled Rachel's wind swept hair. "I will, I will. Just…when she's thirty."

"Oh be quiet!" Rachel laughed and tickled her husband until he surrendered and allowed their daughter to date boys when she reached the ripe old age of twenty one. Rachel shook her head and then wrapped her arm around Will's waist, with her husband resting his head on top of hers and sighing; "She's beautiful and wonderful, she'll be a heartbreaker." Against his chest, Rachel then giggled; "And you'll be a jaw breaker if some boy ever comes near her!"

"Exactly!" Will agreed and pressed a light kiss on his wife's head; knowing that Erin would be just as headstrong as himself but as romantic as his wife. He knew that she would be a heartbreaker: there was no doubt of it.

Listening to their little girl munch on more of her lunch a little while later, Will contemplated asking his wife a question. He watched as Rachel bushed back Erin's hair and put it up in a little pony tail so she wouldn't get peanut butter or jelly in it. "Have some mommy," Erin ordered lightly as she held up her sandwich to her mother. Rachel then giggled and shook her head, "Mommy has her own sandwich, Petal," She then took the sandwich and broke it in half; "Eat this little bit and then you can have some yoghurt and a cake, okay?" Erin then eagerly snatched the sandwich half and chewed as fast as she could. Will chuckled at his little girl and then put his arm on Rachel's. Lightly, his fingers began to stroke the warm, soft skin of his wife and then began to ask her his question: "Say Rach…have you ever…I don't know…Do you ever think about giving her a little brother? Or a little sister? I mean I was an only child and you're an only child. I'd kind of really like her to have someone to play with. Only if you want." Rachel always found her husband's nervous stuttering adorable. He only ever did it when he wanted something but didn't want to sound forceful. Once she handed Erin her strawberry flavoured yoghurt and little pink spoon, Rachel shuffled herself slightly closer to her husband. One hand cupped the back of his neck and the other rested on his knee. "In answer your first question," she began, tilting her head up so she could look up at Will directly. "Yes. I have thought about having another baby. As for your second question, it's pretty much the same answer." She quickly looked back at Erin, who had managed to get more yoghurt down the front of her dress and on her face than in her mouth. The two parents giggled at their daughter. At the sound of their laughter, Erin pouted once again but then picked herself up and went to sit in her mother's lap. She fully welcomed the one armed embrace given to her by her mom and the one handed tickle give to her by her dad. Looking back up at her husband, Rachel beamed quietly; "I would love to have another baby with you," and with that said she brought his face down to hers so she could kiss him.

For the rest of the afternoon, Rachel and Will wandered around the park; feeding ducks, pushing Erin on the swings and generally having fun with their current little girl. That night, once they had tucked her into her big girl princess bed together, Will and Rachel held each other and kissed each other. Every day with Erin was exhausting and challenging. She would soon be four years old and starting school and before they would know it she would be graduating from high school and leaving for college. But right now, all she was interested in was singing and dancing – like her mom – and learning new things about the world – like her dad – as well as concentrating on being a little girl. For Rachel and Will, their lives had changed dramatically in the last few years, but as they held each other and had morning snuggles with their beautiful daughter they knew they would never regret anything. Yes, their relationship may have been a difficult one at first, but at the end of the day; that was life! They had their dreams and their lives and they were going to live them absolutely to the fullest they could. And, who knows, maybe Erin would get a little brother and little sister to play with and maybe Will and Rachel would get a son or another daughter to further enrich their lives together.

One thing was for sure, they would always look back on their time together and remember how they crossed their boundaries and made their lives the best they could by taking that life changing risk. That would be the moral they would take away from themselves. Would it have been better if they were the same age? Maybe, but really, for Rachel and Will Schuster they wouldn't regret a single thing.

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><p><strong>There you have it everybody! Thank you for reading and reviewing, I hope you've enjoyed it :) <strong>


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